My uncle Ernest Julius Erickson's tombstone
Riverview Cemetery *  Wilton, North Dakota
Not all that far from Painted Woods, North Dakota

A place where Ernest Julius's spirit rests peacefully along the Missouri River

Ernest Julius was a member of the 361st Regiment of the American Expeditionary Force in France 1918

Ernest found himself along with his regiment in the midst of the Battle of the Argonne Forest, in
what would be referred to as The Meuse - Argonne Offensive located on the Western Front in France.
It was fought from September 26th 1918, until the Armistice on the the 11th of November, 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 an end to the war.

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.