Tag Archives: influenza epidemic

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Chaplain B.H. Roberts Eulogizes the Dead

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This post is a sort of prequel to previous posts about B.H. Roberts’s experiences as an LDS chaplain during World War I, here and here. It’s long; you can safely skip lightly through the multiple eulogies – I include them all here for the sake of history and to emphasize what must have seemed to be an endless experience to the men involved.

It was 90 years ago that the men of the 145 Field Artillery began to settle into their training routine at Camp De Souge, France (near Bordeaux). So far, the men seemed to be enjoying their experience in a new land, far from the battlefront. Sgt. William H. Latimer, a Latter-day Saint, wrote to his parents: Continue reading Chaplain B.H. Roberts Eulogizes the Dead →

Mormon history

Chaplain B.H. Roberts Leads Memorial Services

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This newspaper article is posted as a followup to the post Chaplain B.H. Roberts Pleads for the Lives of His Men from a reference suggested by Justin. No, I don’t know whether the voice recording or the 1918 movie film is extant; I will be looking for them, and solicit your help in the search by Googling and checking databases with which you may be familiar.

MEMORIAL DAY RECALLS UTAH SERVICE IN FRANCE

Funeral Address by B.H. Roberts at Camp Recorded

Continue reading Chaplain B.H. Roberts Leads Memorial Services →

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Chaplain B.H. Roberts Pleads for the Lives of His Men

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Lenard Valess Dewey (1895-1981) was born in Idaho and eventually settled in Arizona, where he served as an LDS bishop. In between those milestones, he lived in California, earned an M.A. from the University of South Dakota (1924; his Master’s essay was a consideration of Tennyson’s “In Memoriam”), and wrote at least two dozen articles for LDS publications. In 1917 he enlisted in the 145th Field Artillery, a Utah unit made up largely of Mormon men, which trained in California as part of the 40th Division (composed generally of non-Mormon men from California and Nevada), sailed to Bordeaux, France for further training. The war ended just as the 145th was heading to the front; except for a large contingent of their men that were transferred to another unit before they left the States, the men of the 145th saw no battle. Continue reading Chaplain B.H. Roberts Pleads for the Lives of His Men →