My grandfather, Frank Severin Erickson (308th Infantry - Company H) along with the other surviving Lost Battalion soldiers of the 77th Division. Frank is the third man from the right & squatting behind first soldier sitting on the right of the first row.

Known as 'The Lost Battalion,' this photograph was taken in the outskirts of the Argonne Forest in France on October 8th, 1918 soon after the men had 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 in both photographs. Frank is marked with an arrow in both images.

The well known 'Lost Battalion' was comprised of nine companies of the 77th Infantry Division. In the Argonne forest in early October of 1918, the division advanced toward the German line, believing themselves to be supported by French forces on their right flank. However, the French advance was stalled, and the division found itself surrounded by the Germans and cut off. For six days the division sustained heavy casualties, but held it's ground.

At one point the men were bombarded by American artillery, and only ceased when a carrier pigeon (Cher Ami) got through to the main lines. The message read,

“We are along the road parallel 276.4. Our artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For Heavens sake stop it.”

When the division was initially created during the war, almost all of its recruits were drafted from NYC. Many of the men initially came from different areas of the country and ended up training at Camp Upton at Yaphank (Long Island) in Suffolk County, New York. Frank had originally trained at Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington and eventually wound up at Camp Upton soon before the regiment was sent overseas.

Frank joined the AEF in Oregon and is listed in some documents coming from there, but Frank was from North Dakota. There were quite a few men having come from the Great Plains states represented in the 77th and many survived the ordeal in the Argonne.

The division was nicknamed the “Liberty Division,” sometimes referred to as the Statue of Liberty Division.