The Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded to 119 members of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps during World War I, 33 of them posthumously. Portrait photographs of these heroes are remarkably scarce, but I was fortunate to recently acquire one. The subject of tonight’s post is Captain Samuel Woodfill of Indiana, one of America’s most celebrated soldiers of the Great War.
Captain Samuel Woodfill, U.S. Army Often described by General John J. Pershing as “the outstanding soldier of the American Expeditionary Forces,” Captain Samuel Woodfill earned the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on October 12, 1918. Leading his company through heavy fog and enemy fire near Cunel, France, Woodfill singlehandedly attacked multiple German machine gun nests, killing or capturing their crews despite being gassed and exhausted. A career soldier from Indiana, Woodfill had already served in the Philippines and on the Mexican border before World War I, and his calm, precise marksmanship in France became legendary among his peers. After the war, he was personally honored by Pershing and later chosen to represent the U.S. Army’s enlisted men at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1921.
Arlington National Cemetery Video: Major Samuel Woodfill
Reverse Side of Woodfill’s Portrait
His Medal of Honor citation reads:
“While he was leading his company against the enemy, First Lieutenant Woodfill’s line came under heavy machine gun fire, which threatened to hold up the advance. Followed by two soldiers at 25 yards, this officer went out ahead of his first line toward a machine gun nest and worked his way around its flank, leaving the two soldiers in front. When he got within ten yards of the gun it ceased firing, and four of the enemy appeared, three of whom were shot by First Lieutenant Woodfill. The fourth, an officer, rushed at First Lieutenant Woodfill, who attempted to club the officer with his rifle. After a hand-to-hand struggle, First Lieutenant Woodfill killed the officer with his pistol. His company there upon continued to advance, until shortly afterwards another machine gun nest was encountered. Calling on his men to follow, First Lieutenant Woodfill rushed ahead of his line in the face of heavy fire from the nest, and when several of the enemy appeared above the nest he shot them, capturing three other members of the crew and silencing the gun. A few minutes later this officer for the third time demonstrated conspicuous daring by charging another machine gun position, killing five men in one machine gun pit with his rifle. He then drew his revolver and started to jump into the pit, when two other gunners only a few yards away turned their gun on him. Failing to kill them with his revolver, he grabbed a pick lying nearby and killed both of them. Inspired by the exceptional courage displayed by this officer, his men pressed on to their objective under severe shell and machine gun fire.”
(All photographs and narrative were provided by Locke)
The first man from Southbridge, Massachusetts to enlist during World War 1 was Charles Edwin Hellner. He was born on April 11th, 1897 and was at the age of 20 when he enlisted for the US Army on May 7th, 1917. He was placed into B company of the 1st Engineer Regiment (part of the 1st Infantry Division) with about 30 other Southbridge men. After exactly three months of training he departed for France.
Sgt. Hellner’s WWI Uniform
Following their arrival, the soldiers of B company then spent more time training. This time it was in the tactics of trench warfare with the French as their experienced instructors. In later parts of the training, American units would serve alongside French ones in relatively idle sections of the frontline so that the doughboys could get some experience. While serving with elements of the 16th infantry on the morning of November 3rd, 1917, Hellner would be present for the first raid on American troops by the German army. The first three American deaths of the war occurred there.
Hellner’s Diary, Cigarette Case, Pocket Watch and War Medals
Training and engineer work continued for Hellner’s unit until the 1st Division was called into action again. On May 28th, 1918 the 28th infantry regiment had attacked and successfully captured the French town of Cantigny. The 1st Engineers moved into the sector and began work fortifying the area and digging trenches. Hellner memorialized his service there with a large pennant that bears “Cantigny 1918” and his portrait which speaks to the fame of the battle at the time. While in these trenches at and around Cantigny, B company experienced shelling and fought off diversionary attacks from the German’s Montdidier-Noyon offensive that was aimed at nearby French positions.
Hellner’s Discharge Paperwork
On July 18th the 1st Engineers began its involvement in the Second Battle of the Marne. A German attack had recently pushed back allied lines before it faltered and it was realized that this was an opportunity for a counterattack. Hellner had recently been given command of his own squad and would now be leading them into battle. B company spent three days attacking the Germans near the town of Soissons. During the first day of attack on July 18th, a member of Hellner’s squad named William Broughton was hit in the stomach by a piece of shrapnel. Unfortunately, he eventually died from his wounds. Broughton had also come from Southbridge and Hellner wrote a letter home that informed his family that he had passed. July 19th saw B company’s advance slowed by machine gun fire that wounded several men and an officer. On July 20th, Hellner led his squad over the top at 4 AM with the rest of B company in the first wave. With heavy losses they were able to fight until they reached a railroad where they remained the rest of the day. While taking cover behind an embankment near this railroad, Hellner experienced his first wound of the war. He later wrote a letter about the incident: “I was lying on a railroad embankment when a high explosive German shell burst near me, digging up the dirt and stones all around, and a heavy stone fell upon my foot, breaking one of the bones.” This artillery shell had actually caused much more damage than he’d thought. It dislocated his shoulder, broke a bone in his foot, and gave him a severe rupture. He never reported these wounds and continued to fight at Soissons for two more days. By the end of the battle he was the only man from his squad to report to an officer, the rest had either been killed or wounded. B company in total sustained 74 casualties at Soissons from July 18th to the 22nd.
After the chaos of their first large scale offensive, they now had a few moments of relief. For the next few months they went back to being engineers and did manual labor including building roads during the St. Mihiel campaign in early September. It is during this time I believe Hellner attended gas school. One of his journals has a section with the same heading that includes details about each type of gas and various mortars including the Livens projector.
Silk Portrait Photo and Cantigny 1918 Pennant
For the last and largest battle of the war the 1st Engineers was once again called up to act as infantry. The Meuse-Argonne offensive began on September 26th but B company didn’t attack until October 9th. Hill 269 in the Argonne Forest needed to be captured and B company was part of the force chosen for the job. The fight for the hill was intense with the attackers engaging in hand to hand combat. After capturing the hill the engineers immediately braced for a counterattack. One didn’t come until the following day when the Germans stormed the hill with the support of heavy artillery. The enemy never reached the top of the hill and were successfully repelled. At some point during this engagement Hellner was gassed and evacuated to a hospital.
Unfortunately I don’t know when he left the hospital but I do know that by November 11th he had returned to B company and was marching towards the frontline near the town of Sedan with the rest of the regiment. Suddenly, a courier on horseback rushed down the column of men telling them to stop marching because the war had ended. In Hellner’s own words: “When we realized it was all over, we whistled, screamed, cheered and raised the devil, and I was so hoarse I couldn’t speak next day above a whisper.” That night the frontline was almost as bright as day with bonfires, flares, and rockets from the celebrating soldiers.
“Bound for Home” – Last Diary Entry
In December the 1st division was sent into Germany to be a part of the army of occupation. The 1st Engineers remained on this post until July 21st, 1919 when they were detailed to finally return home. He returned to the United States in August and was supposed to receive a discharge but a medical officer advised him to re-enlist so that his wounds from Soissons could finally be tended to by army doctors. This was when the true extent of his injury was truly discovered. It was necessary to fracture his dislocated arm to get it back into its socket. After this though, he could finally return to Southbridge. Funnily enough, even after his wounds from Soissons were corrected, he wasn’t given credit for a wound in action. So his only wound according to his enlistment record was being gassed on Hill 269. Hellner got married in June of 1921 and went on to have two daughters. In later life he moved to Florida and passed away there on June 26th, 1975 at the age of 78.
Eight years ago I posted a series of snapshots taken by a US soldier showing the liberation of an unknown concentration camp during WWII. When I acquired the photos, they had no provenance and no information on the reverse side to start the process of identification. Luckily, a blog follower was able to help with the identification of the camp through the same processes I typically use. By observing the surrounding architecture and general contextual clues, he was able to identify the camp as Kaufering IV, a large subcamp of Dachau. Here is what he provided:
Some thoughts:
i)This is certainly somewhere Upper Bavaria – the house architecture is fairly typical of the region.
ii)The presence of the 2 Luftwaffe officers suggests some sort of air force activity is close by. Lager Lechfeld was used as a fighter base and a shake-down airbase for the nearby Messerschmitt complex in Augsburg. Prisoners were engaged in constructing bomb-proof bunker-factories in appalling conditions.
iii)One of the photographs has a very distinctive semi-sunken barrack type, known as “Erdhütten” (Lit: “Earth huts”) – very primitive constructions, the timbers of which were made from off-cuts and waste from furniture production and which survivors testify, leaked terribly. These barracks were a distinctive feature of the Dachau sub-camps in the Kaufering/Buchlöe area.
Thanks to the careful research of Taff Simon, we now know that the camp shown in these snapshots is Kaufering IV. A closer look at the details within the images supports his findings. One particular photograph offers the clearest confirmation: it shows an older man in civilian clothing with a closely shaven head, a haunting detail that anchors these scenes to the history of this Dachau subcamp.
Snapshot of SS Commandant Johann Baptist Eichelsdörfer
When I first wrote about the snapshot collection in 2017, I was unable to identify the man since he was in civilian garb. Artificial intelligence image searches at the time were unable to attribute the image to any individual, so I was under the assumption that he was a local civilian who was brought in to help with the burial of the camp victims. But now, with the attribution of the snapshots to Kaufering IV, I was able to find more images of Eichelsdörfer. His shaven head with the lopsided squirrel-tail appearance confirms his identity when compared to the images below.
Color Photo of Johann Baptist Eichelsdörfer (US Holocaust Museum image)
(SS officer Johann Baptist Eichelsdoerfer, the commandant of the Kaufering IV concentration camp, stands among the corpses of prisoners killed in his camp. US Holocaust Museum image)
(Wikipedia Commons)
Who was he?
Johann Baptist Eichelsdörfer was a German military officer and concentration camp commandant during World War II. Born on January 20, 1890, in Dachau, Germany, he served as a non-commissioned officer in the Bavarian Army during World War I and remained in the military after the war, retiring in 1924 with the rank of lieutenant. He rejoined the military in 1940 and served in various locations, including France, Poland, and the Soviet Union. In 1944, he was assigned to the Dachau concentration camp system, where he served as the commandant of several subcamps. In January 1945, he took command of Kaufering IV, a subcamp of Dachau located near Hurlach, which was designated as a “hospital camp” but was, in reality, a site where sick and dying prisoners were abandoned without adequate medical care. Under his command, thousands of prisoners died due to starvation, disease, and mistreatment.
Eichelsdörfer’s actions came to light when American forces liberated Kaufering IV on April 27, 1945. U.S. soldiers discovered hundreds of bodies and surviving prisoners who had been subjected to brutal conditions. Eichelsdörfer was captured and photographed standing among the bodies of dead inmates, a stark image used as evidence during his trial. He was tried at the Dachau Trials, a series of military tribunals held by the U.S. Army to prosecute Nazi war criminals. On December 13, 1945, he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. Eichelsdörfer was executed by hanging on May 29, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech prison. His trial and execution highlighted the atrocities committed in the Nazi concentration camps and served as a reminder of the need for accountability in the aftermath of war.
The Other Snapshots
Now that we know the snapshots from the 2017 blog post were taken at Kaufering IV, the other images captured by an unknown US GI make more sense. I will post them here with some updated commentary. Feel free to weigh in if you have any comments or suggestions for descriptions.
Kaufering IV Survivor
In the above image, we see a recently liberated survivor of his time at Kaufering IV. He’s using his bandaged hands to tie on a pair of shoes, likely a pair provided to him by US soldiers. He also appears to have some soup in a small can as well as a striped blanket wrapped around his head and body. In the back of the image appears a US T28E1 which was likely one of the 12th Armor Division’s anti-aircraft mobile vehicles. The painted sillouettes of 14 German aircraft on the side hint that the operators of the T28E1 shot down lots of German aircraft as the war came to an end.
Generalized View of the T28E1
German Luftwaffe Officers
German Civilians Help with Burial
Camp Building and Ditch
Local Civilians Observe the Dead
Kaufering IV Victims
US Officers Speak to a Crowd
US GI’s View the Dead
Camp Victims
Camp Victims and Army Officers
Camp Victims
Local German Civilians Listen to US Officers
I really don’t know how to close this sobering post update from 2017. I did pass the snapshots along to a WWII veterans museum based here in the United States, but I’m unsure of what they ended up doing with them. I hope that his post will help educate those researching Kaufering IV and bring some closure to the mystery of when and where these snapshots were taken.
If you want to see some footage from the camp liberation, please check out the video here.
Easy Co. 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, Band of Brothers at Kaufering IV
HBO’s Band of Brothers covered Kaufering IV briefly in one episode. The unit was involved in the liberation of the camp, along with the 12th Armored Division. See below for a dramatized version of the events. The small earthen huts described by Taff can be clearly depicted. The HBO historical accuracy consultants did a great job!
From time to time, I like to browse the pages of eBay in search of portrait photographs of identified U.S. soldiers — small windows into the past that I can casually research to uncover the individual’s story and their role in whichever conflict they served. In today’s post, I was drawn to one particular image: a portrait captured by a British photographer. Unlike the widely circulated press photos that often made their way into American newspapers, this photograph was unlikely to have been distributed stateside and equally unlikely to have fallen into the hands of the soldier’s family.
When soldiers were photographed, it was common for them to provide their names, ranks, and often their hometowns. Yet in most cases, there was little chance for photographers or newspapers to follow up and let those soldiers know that their likeness had appeared in print. That disconnect is part of what makes original press photographs so compelling today. Many remain unpublished, and most have never been thoroughly researched. In fact, I’ve noticed a growing trend in 2025: more and more World War II–era press photos are surfacing on the secondary market, offering new opportunities to rediscover stories that might otherwise have been lost.
PFC James “Jack” C. Warren of Kentucky
The photograph above was discovered in August 2025 during one of my routine eBay searches for intriguing portrait shots of World War II servicemen — images that spark my curiosity to uncover the stories behind the faces. This particular shot is especially striking: crisp, tightly framed, and, based on the other photographs sold by the same seller, likely taken in England at a collection point for wounded or ill soldiers. I cleaned up the scan and cropped the edges to make it more visually appealing for digital presentation.
The next question became the most important one: how do we identify him?
Reverse Side From eBay
What do we know?
The photo was taken on July 13, 1944 at a port in the South of England.
The photographer worked for a British newspaper.
The subject of the photo is a PFC J.C. Warren from Kentucky and was wounded.
The photo was approved for publication by US censors a few days later.
Who was J.C. Warren?
Given the information provided in the brief writeup on the reverse side of the photo, we know that the subject is a young male, likely aged 18-24 from Kentucky named J.C. Warren who was wounded or injured at some point after the D-Day landing a month earlier. His “walking wounded” paper tag (Form 52b-MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, U.S.A. (Revised October 25, 1940), 16-15434) seen poking up at the bottom hints that he wasn’t disabled or infectious. With that information in hand, I began narrowing the search. Since the most common first names beginning with “J” at the time were James and John, I started there, turning to an obscure database that tracks U.S. servicemembers admitted to hospitals during World War II.
After only a few minutes of typing I found a hit to a James C. Warren with the Army Serial Number(ASN) of 35487228, and the only J C Warren who was from Kentucky that was admitted to a US hospital in July of 1944.
WWII Hospital Admission Card for James Warren
And when looking up his ASN…
WWII Draft Registration Information
With confirmation like this, I decided to dig deeper into PFC Warren’s life story in hopes of pulling out a few more details about his life story. Luckily, Ancestry.com and Fold3.com provide prompts based on confirmed information when researching so I was quickly on my way down the rabbit hole.
Veteran Headstone Application Form
It’s always a bittersweet discovery when I come across one of these documents, which tend to surface most often for veterans who passed away between the 1950s and 1980s. This particular record (which I’ll share below) shows that PFC Warren served with the 816th Ordnance Base Depot Company, a unit stationed in southern England at the time of his hospital admission. Interestingly, there is no mention of a Purple Heart on the form. That leaves me to wonder whether his injury did not meet the criteria for the medal, or whether it simply wasn’t recorded on his discharge papers after the war. Perhaps his family would know the answer.
Veteran Headstone Application
Luckily, the document provides just enough detail to shed light on who James Carmen Warren sadly left behind when he passed away in 1968. Born on April 8, 1921, he died on August 8, 1968, at the age of 47. He was survived by his wife, Mary Emma Green Warren, along with their two sons, Ivan and James C. Warren Jr.
The 158th Aero Squadron and the Sinking of the SS Tuscania
On the night of February 5, 1918, the troopship SS Tuscania was steaming off the coast of Islay, Scotland, when it was struck by a torpedo fired from the German submarine UB-77. The liner was carrying over 2,000 American soldiers bound for the Western Front as part of the earliest waves of U.S. troops to join the fight in Europe.
Among those aboard were men of the 158th Aero Squadron, a newly formed Air Service unit. Organized in late 1917, the squadron was composed largely of young Americans who had trained in Texas before embarking overseas. Their mission would be to support the burgeoning U.S. Air Service in France, a much needed element of warfare in the late stages of WWI.
When the torpedo struck, chaos erupted. Lifeboats were launched into rough seas, and the darkness made rescue operations difficult. British destroyers and local fishermen rushed to aid survivors. Despite these efforts, more than 200 soldiers and crewmen were lost, making the Tuscania the first U.S. troopship sunk in World War I.
Footage of the Survivors of the Tuscania Sinking
The men of the 158th Aero Squadron were among the survivors. Shaken but determined, they eventually reached England and continued their training before heading off to France. Looking at this group portrait, it’s striking to think that every face here carries the memory of that night in the frigid waters of the North Channel. For the men of the 158th, their war began not in the skies over France, but in the dark Atlantic, clinging to lifeboats and praying for rescue.
Roy Oplinger and the 158th Aero Squadron
While the group photo provides us with an overall snapshot of the 158th Aero Squadron in the days after their harrowing ordeal, the photograph also highlights the wartime experience of an individual soldier who decided to send this image home to his family.
The reverse side of this English postcard has a few unique elements that help point towards the ID of the soldier who sent the postcard home in 1918. The first and obvious clue is that the photograph is likely related to someone who served with the 158th Aero Squadron. The following clues can be found on the reverse side of the postcard.
Reverse Side of Postcard
The additional clues are pretty obvious given the stamp at the top right-hand corner paired with the writing on the bottom. We know his name is Roy, and that his Army Service Number was 250033. Using the powers of ancestry.com and fold3.com I was able to identify the sender as Corporal Roy Holden Oplinger who served as a mechanic with the 158th Aero Squadron. Born on May 8th, 1896 in Danielsville, PA to Adam and Edna Oplinger, Roy went on to enlist for the draft on June 5th, 1917 with a listed address in Walnutport, PA. What doesn’t jive is that he was a private at the time of the sinking of the SS Tuscania, so it appears that he didn’t actually send this postcard to his family (if ever) until later that year when he was promoted to corporal in October.
Roy’s WWI Draft Registration Card
According to Roy’s WWI Pennsylvania Veteran’s Compensation Application, after enlistment he went on to serve with the 49th Aero Squadron (an obscure pursuit squadron) in August of the same year and then on January 8th of 1918 with the 158th Aero Squadron shortly before his departure aboard the SS Tuscania.
WWI Pennsylvania Veteran’s Compensation Application Form
A Letter Home to a Friend
In a rare stroke of luck, I struck photo researcher gold after searching for newspaper articles related to Roy’s WWI service. In this case, it looks like he sent a letter home to a close hometown friend, Samuel W. Danner on February 13th, 1918 only a few days before the group photo was taken. Anecdotes like this offer a rare glimpse into individual moments during the war, and I was lucky to stumble across it. Here’s a link to the The Morning Call, an Allentown, PA newspaper. Please disregard any typos in the OCR transcription of the article.
Roy H. Oplinger Private in 158th Aero Squadron now in France received the following letter: American Rest Camp, Winchester, England.
February 13, 1918. Dear Sir: best of health and hope you are well I will let you know that I am in the same in America. I will let you know that I have experienced the Torpedoing of the S. S. Tuscania.
The very first ship sunk with U. S. Soldiers on board. I had a narrow escape, I was on deck when we were submarined, but was soon floating on the Atlantic waters on a raft, shortly after we were struck about one hour and a half later we were picked up by a British patrol boat.
If the ship would have sunk as quick as the Lusitania, why I think we would have perished. The S. S. Tuscania went down some hours later, she was torpedoed about supper time somewhere on the Irish coast. How many lives were lost I am unable to tell.
Only a few of our squadron The clothing and my personal belongings I had with me are all the articles I have, all the rest of my stuff is at the bottom of the sea with the Tuscania. But my gold watch which mother presented to me as a present some years ago is out of commission as the salt water did not agree with her very well. I do not like the taste of it myself, it does not feel very comfortable to be in the water this time of the year. But I was kept warm as I was the only one on the raft that knew how to handle an oar. So you see what I had to do to get away from that sinking ship.
There is danger in being too near a sinking vessel as the suction will at times suck persons down that are near. I paddled along and when rescued we eight boys on the raft were a few miles from the ship. We were somewhat soaked. But I am dry by the time you received this letter. Ha Ha.
I will never forget that shock of that torpedo which hit us on that night February 5, 1918. The boys were brave and sang national hymns when we let her go down. Every soldier was coal as jar as I know not one was panic stricken, all left that ship in an excellent manner and can tell you from my experience what I have had in seeing a ship sunk. That you can thank God if you never have to witness that kind of a sight on a rough sea. I am sure glad that I am safe.
It was God’s will that only a few lives were lost in the ship wreck. I will sure do my best to do a little harm towards “Kaiser Bill” as he has to account for the lives that were lost on that cold night (you know). I am yours as before.
Address, Priv. Roy H. Oplinger, 158th Aero Squadron. A. E. (via) N. Y.
And Some Insight From a Friend
Fast forward to 2025, here’s some information about the photo from a WWI researcher friend of mine, Charles “Chuck” Thomas. Thanks Chuck!
Chuck’s Take
Here is a special image of the surviving members of the 158th Aero Squadron shortly after arriving at the American rest camp in Winchester, England. This squadron was aboard the Tuscania when it was sunk by a German submarine off the northern coast of Ireland 5 February 1918. When the 158th AS was reassembled at Winchester, it was determined that seventeen men had been lost during the sinking. After the picture was taken, the flying officers were sent to France for training and the enlisted members were broken up into four flights: one flight was sent to Beverly, Yorkshire and the other three went to Lincolnshire, England.
The squadron would later be reunited and sent to Issoudun on 27 September to finish out their service at that aerodrome.
The squadron officers were:
1st Lt. Phil E. Davant
1st Lt. Herbert B. Bartholf
1st Lt. J. W. Blackman (Gorrells has it spelled ‘Blakcman’ – typo?)
1st Lt. Merle H. Howe
1st Lt. Miner C. Markham
2nd Lt. Kenneth S. Hall
2nd Lt. Freeman A. Ballard
2nd Lt. LaRue Smith
2nd Lt. James McFaddan
Of note is the mixture of civilian attire with military uniforms being worn by some of the enlisted men.
I should also point out that the flag seen here was the only one saved during the sinking of the Tuscania by Corp. Guy W. Burnett.
After taking a break from writing, I’m excited to finally share some of the fascinating WWI photos and research I’ve uncovered over the past few years, little hidden gems I’ve been eager to bring to light on this little corner of the internet. In this quick post you will meet Punkins, the official mascot of Company C of the 27th Engineer Regiment. Photographs of unit mascots during WWI are not exceedingly rare, but studio portraits of an identified mascot/dog are nearly impossible to find. Most, if they exist, were kept in personal albums or letter collections and discarded or forgotten about over the past 100+ years, but this shot of Punkins somehow emerged on eBay several years ago.
Punkins Posed for the Camera!
Sporting a studded leather collar and matching riveted harness, Punkins seems like a quite the bruiser, a fitting mascot for an engineering regiment during WWI. With just the image and brief stamped caption below (the stamping hints at a volumed production of photo postcards for veterans after the return home), it seemed a difficult task to identify the sitter based on contextual clues such as insignia or other identifying material. Although the postcard backstamp suggests a stateside printing of the postcard, I’m guessing the original photograph was taken in France or Germany and replicated stateside for dispersal to fellow soldiers who wanted photographs to remember their wartime experiences.
Luckily, I did some deep diving and discovered a digitized version of a unit history of the 27th Engineer Regiment that included a brief caption mentioning a ‘Punkins’ below a photograph of our mystery sitter with one of his wartime friends.
“Punkins” and PFC William H. Hall of Santa Clara, CA.
Punkins has now been identified as the regimental mascot of the 27th Engineer Regiment! Note that he is sporting a custom coat with markings and insignia showing he was a member of Company C. of the 27th Engineer Regiment with the First Army. His downward pointing chevron on the right means he served at least six months with the unit. Based on the background contextual clues in the unit history photo, this shot appears to have been taken aboard a return vessel from France to the USA in March of 1919. Private First Class William H. Hall of Santa Clara, CA was aboard the USS Dakotan, a US military transport ship that served in both WWI for the US and later in WWII for the Russians starting in 1942.
Pvt. William Hall heads to France in June of 1918
It’s unclear and likely impossible to know the circumstances of Punkins’ adoption by the 27th Engineer Regiment in WWI, but based on the visual info provided in the unit history, it’s likely that they were adopted at least three months before departure from France in March of 1919 which points towards an adoption date of August or September of 1918 while the unit was serving in Germany at the time. Punkins appears to be a Bull Terrier mix of some sort based on the pointed ears, coloring and general boxy frame. If anyone knows anything else about Punkins please reach out and share.
One last note – Punkins appears to be wearing an actual WWI US dog tag. Dog tags used by the US Army and Marines were primarily aluminum discs that could be hand punched with pertinent information bearing the owners name, unit, serial number and sometimes other personal touches. It looks like Punkins received a set of his own tags although the details are obscured. Note that the ridges on the left tag hole hints that they’ve been worn long enough to encounter some wear and tear. The circular tag to the right doesn’t seem to be a proverbial dog tag but some sort of other identifier or an actual DOG tag.
November, 2025 Update
It appears that Punkins sat for several photographs during his illustrious career as a mascot. Another eBay listing appeared a month or so ago (I didn’t win) that provided a bit more information about our sitter. Amazingly, we now know the birthdate, birthplace and wartime career of Punkins to a level of detail I never thought I would learn. See below for a transcription of the caption from the eBay postcard.
Nov. 2, 2025 Ended Listing for Another Punkins Postcard!
Punkins was born Dec. 30, 1917, in Baltimore, was mascot of Co. C., 27th Eng., was smuggled across on a transport in a suit case, thru the worst of the submarine zone, landed in France May 18, 1918. He spent nine months in the front line trenches, went over the top three times at the battles of Chateau Thierry, Argonne and St. Mihiel. He was gassed Sept. 28, 1918, in the Argonne. Punkins is the only dog that ever received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army. He received a Medal of Honor from the French Government at Verdun, also wears the U.S. Victory button. Here’s to the Good Old U.S.A. – Punkins
Punkins’ “Other Portrait”
This secondary portrait of Punkins provides a very similar view but shows a few more details that “my” version does not include. Now, we can see a little more detail to the dog tag/medal attached to his collar.
The tag that I had originally assumed was some sort of identifier appears to have a castle at center which may be a 27th Engineers commemorative medal given out to members of that unit. See below (top left) for a possible match from the US Army Engineering collection website. (Image 16 in the first slideshow)
Finding vintage photography to post to the site that has meaningful background history has been a tough mission the last few years. I was recently inspired to start posting to the blog more often from a group of friends who enjoy seeing great photography mixed in with background research. This site has always been a labor of love and I’ve neglected posting new material (but have updated older posts) since the global pandemic hit. I now introduce you to a new addition to the collection that showcases an underappreciated aspect of the the WWI US service experience.
The process of making these shots web-ready is a bit tedious but it involves the scanning, editing for dust and scratches as well as optimizing size for the web. It’s not a quick task but I like to take time to make these available whenever possible.
Ernie Rayburn and Ollie Stiger Smoking Cigars in France, 1918
This photograph struck me when I first viewed it for a few reasons. The role of African Americans in World War One has been touched upon in books, documentaries and museum exhibits but the photographic history of the common labor war worker has been eclipsed by the “fighting” units that are often depicted. These two men, Erie Rayburn of Coffeeville, MS and Ollie Stiger of Jackson of the same state have likely never been shown online. These postcard style shots were often taken to be sent to friends and family as a way of remembering a time where the normal day-to-day life of the 1910s was upended and normal guys were thrown into abnormal situations.
Ollie and Ernie in France
Both Ollie and Ernie served in the same labor unit – the Depot Service Company No. II based out of Brest, France during the war. I’m unsure of what exact labor duty they would have been assigned to but it likely involved the moving of material onto or off of ships onto trucks or trains. More research will need to be done.
Ollie Stiger (also spelled Steger in later documents) was born on August 6th, 1892 (also listed as 1891?) in Mississippi and died in San Diego, CA in October of 1972. After the war he worked with the Chicago and North Western Railroad as a “coach cleaner”. I’m unaware of any children or family at the point of writing this post.
Sgt. Ollie Stiger in France, 1918.
Corporal Erie Rayburn was also from the same hometown of Ollie of Coffeeville, MS and was born around the same time in 1895 and passed away a few years after Ollie in 1988. I sincerely hope they stayed friends after the war and after they parted ways to seek the true American Dream.
When searching for new portraiture to add to PortraitsofWar I generally tend to look for material with identifiable soldiers, uniforms, medals and other written or visual clues to help shed light on life during wartime. In this post, I will be researching a photograph of a US Navy sailor who caught my eye during a recent eBay search.
Reverse Side of Postcard
The information written on the back of the postcard shows an identification of the sitter as a B.G. Miller. He is identified as being a Pharmacist’s Mate 1st Class from Salt Lake City, Utah who was on duty at one point at a hospital in Samoa on August 1st, 1918. Additional info added to the photo includes an anecdote about his position as a Mormon missionary in Germany during the breakout of the war between Germany and France.
With a little bit of luck and a lot of research I was able to track down our mysterious B.G. Miller. Byron Gardener Miller was found listed in the Utah World War 1 Military Service Questionnaire on ancestry.com. Please see his card below:
Byron’s WWI War Service Card
It looks like Byron attended the University of Utah for a year before being shipped off for his overseas missionary work. This is likely the reason for his service as a Pharmacist’s Mate with the US NAVY as can be seen in the details of his uniform.
Navy Pharmacist Rate Patch
The reference to his missionary service in Germany during the outbreak of war in July of 1914 is partially confirmed through my discovery of his listing aboard a ship ledger arriving in Montreal, PQ in September of 1914.
His service in Samoa has also been confirmed through the same series of records.
Sadly, his arrival back in the US in 1919 wasn’t likely a time of joy for the Miller family; a Utah death certificate shows that he died of the Spanish Influenza only a few months later on February 7th, 1920. Interestingly enough, my research into the US Hospital in Samoa shows that a MASSIVE flu outbreak in the Samoan Islands lead to the deaths of nearly 25% of the population. With over 8500 deaths, the Spanish Flu was devastating to the island. In response, the US Navy set up an epidemic commission to deal with the issue. The results of the intervention in American Samoa were incredible. Apparently the method of using maritime quarantine lowered mortality rates to nearly 1%. It’s strange that Byron would die of influenza only a few months later while in the United State…
One of the main goals of this website is to help share photos and pertinent military service information with the families of the men and women depicted in the images I collect. In this case, I’m hoping a Miller family representative will discover a rare image of their ancestor who witnessed a formative time in history.
Tonight we have a guest post from a Facebook friend who also enjoys collecting WWI photography. Special thanks to James Taub for providing us with this interesting shot of a French soldier!
A Poliu of the unfortunate 111e régiment d’infanterie. During the Battle of Verdun, on 20 March, 1916 the 111e was in positions in the woods near Malancourt and Avocourt. (Later to be crucial points during the 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive.) They suffered under an intense German bombardment before being assaulted by flame throwers. The four German regiments from Bavaria and Wurttemberg infiltrated deep into the 111e’s position. The regimental commander, the colors the JMO (war diary), and 1,200 other officers and men were lost, many taken prisoner. The Germans used the capture of the 111e as propaganda, and the French Army responded by disbanding the regiment and accusing all 13 companies of treason. One French official even stated that “the uninjured prisoners before the end of the war be worked into a court-martial “. It would not be until the late 1920s that it was admitted by General Petain that the regiment was one of the many sacrificed to slow down the German assault. In 1929 the 111e was reformed, and their colors allowed to hang in Les Invalides
Capitaine Jean Nardou of the 111e wrote:
“A 7h00, un bombardement très violent commence (grosses torpilles et engins de tranchées de toutes sortes) sur nos tranchées de première série et petits postes ; obus de gros calibres sur les deuxième séries et boyaux.
Vers 9h00 j’envoie à mon chef de bataillon la communication suivante par un planton : “Les tranchées sont détruites, les abris démolis ou bouchés ; le téléphone, le bureau sont en miettes, la poudrerie a sauté, mes papiers sont détruits, la situation me paraît très critique”. Le bombardement a continué avec une intensité de plus en plus grande et est devenu d’une violence inouïe après 15h00. A partir de ce moment , tout mouvement dans les tranchées et boyaux était impossible, tant le bombardement était grand. Un peu avant 16h00, les Allemands ont lancé des liquides enflammés sur plusieurs petits postes qu’ils ont également fait sauter à la mine et ont profité de la fumée noire et épaisse qui se dégageait pour s’approcher de nos tranchées qu’ils ont attaquées de revers et de face à l’aide de grenades, pendant que leur bombardement continuait.”
“At 7:00 am, a very violent bombardment begins (big mortars bombs and trench machines of all kinds) on our first series trenches and small posts; shells of large caliber on the second series and dugouts.
Around 9:00 am I send the following communication to my battalion commander: “The trenches are destroyed, the shelters demolished or plugged, the telephone, the office are in pieces, the blowing snow has blown up, my papers are destroyed, the situation seems to me very critical “. The bombing continued with increasing intensity and became incredible violence after 15:00. From that moment, any movement in the trenches and dugouts was impossible, so much was the bombing. A little before 4 pm, the Germans fired flamethrowers on several small posts that they also blew up at the mine and took advantage of the thick black smoke that was emerging to approach our trenches they attacked. from behind and from the front with grenades, while their bombardment continued.”
After a long hiatus I’ve decided to come out of obscurity and begin posting to the blog again! A recent Facebook purchase from a WWI collecting colleague has proved to be a classic PortraitsofWar photo for interpretation. The photo depicts two US soldiers posed in a German studio during the postwar occupation of Germany in 1919. The soldier at right is shown with three overseas (OS) stripes on his left cuff denoting 1 1/2 years of overseas service as well as a French-style cap. Both soldiers are wearing 3rd Army patches on their left shoulders, which would have been worn during the postwar occupation period. The seated doughboy is sporting two wound stripes as well as two OS stripes and a Wisconsin collar disc on his cap. The reverse of the photo lists one of the soldiers in the photo as Robert B. Alexander of 914 Adams Street, Portage, WI. Given that the seated soldier is wearing a Wisconsin disc on his cap, it is presumable that the identification on the reverse is leaning towards the sitter at left.
Pvt. Robert B. Alexander (seated), Co. F 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Reverse Identification of Pvt. Alexander
Some quick research revealed that that Pvt. Alexander was born on April 20th, 1892 in the town of Portage, Wisconsin to Robert M. and Mary Alexander. He lived much of his teen years at 913 and 914 Adams Street in Portage and was listed as working as a switchman with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad as of 1917 before he enlisted in August of that year.
Railroad Switchman, Ca. 1940
914 Adams Street
Attempts to find a photograph of Robert Alexander using traditional research methods failed, but I was able to track down a yearbook photo of Robert’s youngest son. Claire Alexander sat for a yearbook photo in 1944; a side-by-side comparison leaves no doubt in my mind that Claire is a progeny of the seated doughboy.
Pvt. Alexander
Claire L. Alexander in 1944
Wartime Service
Research into Alexander’s wartime service has revealed that Robert was involved in heavy combat in September of 1918 only months before the end of the war on November 11th, 1918. His accolades are laid out in an unlikely document:
Veteran Headstone Document
Reverse of Above Document
This document confirms that Robert served with Company F of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division. He was wounded at least once and received the Purple Heart (After 1932) and also the Silver Star. Details about his wounding and SS are still pending… stay tuned.
Private Alexander’s 1956 headstone was made by the Acme Bronze Company of Maple Park, IL and was delivered to the family on November 6th, 1956 following Robert’s death on October 23rd, 1956.
Mr. Alexander’s Headstone (Courtesy of Findagrave.com)
Research into living members of the Alexander family have proven fruitful…stay tuned for details related to the reunion of this photo with a great-granddaughter!
Portraits of War 