My grandfather Pvt. Frank Severin Gustaf Erickson (laying on ground, smoking a pipe), while he was serving with the American Expeditionary Force in the 308th Infantry - 77th Division - Company H. Here his company was taking a break in a village on the outskirts of the Argonne Forest in France. This was in later October of 1918.

He started his military training at Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington and by July of 1918 was at Camp Upton with the 308th in Yaphank (Long Island) in Suffolk County, New York. The Division eventually shipped out to France. Frank was a surviving member of what later would be referred to as "The Lost Battalion." His experiences in the Argonne Forest was a serious and brutal battle that began on October 2nd when the Division was surrounded by the Germans and ended October 8th when a handful of survivors were able to escape.

The Lost Battalion, the name given to the nine companies of the United States 77th Division of the American Expeditionary Force, consisted of 554 men that were surrounded by German forces in the Argonne Forest in France between October 2nd through the 8th of 1918.

Roughly 197 were killed in battle and approximately 150 went missing in action and or were taken prisoner. Only 194 remaining men walked out alive.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice on November 11th, 1918, a total of 47 days.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, and was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which brought the war to an end. The battle cost 28,000 German lives and 26,277 American lives, making it the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), which was commanded by General John J. Pershing.

The second photograph below with Frank standing along with other surviving soldiers of the 77th Division. Known as "The Lost Battalion," this photograph was taken in the outskirts of the Argonne Forest in France on October 8th, 1918 just as they escaped out of the pocket. The commander, Major Charles Whittlesey of the 1st Battalion 308th Infantry Regiment can be seen standing on the far left.