The company in which Carl and Fred participated in, was in support in the Woods of Cierges in the Argonne region in France that September day in 1918.
Carl, who was from Norway, and Fred, who was from Denmark, probably had some conversation during their time in the trench. Either in their own language, as Norwegians and Swedes sometimes can understand the Danes, especially if they Danes are from Copenhagen, as Fred was. Or maybe they spoke english, to involve the others nearby.
Suddenly they were gone. A high explosive shell hit the trench and killed both Carl and Fred instantly. Their comrade, Ernest Beeks, who was born in Washington State in the US, was wounded.
Today we can read about the event through documents which are scanned and provided by the American National Archives. We can also read about the event in books.
Company I
361st Infantry
Over Here And Over There
When looking at the Burial cards from the same archives I find that Carlson is stated to have died on September 29th, 1918, and on Fred’s card I can read that he died on September 28th, 1918. Through the document above we know that they were killed in action on the same day.
Carl M Carlson was born as Karl Marius Carlsen in Aalsund, Norway, on April 25th, 1890. He emigrated to North America in 1906 and lived together with his family in Tacoma, Washington State. He was self employed and was a fisherman up in the waters near Alaska.
Fred Jensen stated in his draft document that he was born in Copenhagen, July 21st, 1891, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. He worked as a coal miner in Wyoming.
In the witness report above, another soldier is mentioned, Hans Carlson. He was from Norway as well, and survived the war.
Carl’s mother – a Gold Star mother
Marie Carlson was the mother of Carl. She was was born in Norway in 1866, and went with her family to North America in 1906. Carl was also married to Petra J Walderhaug, who then became Petra W Carlson.
According to the Pilgrimage program from the Act of Congress Carl’s mother was offered the trip to France and in the American National Archive we can read the letter regarding the arrangements.
Only mothers who were citizens in the USA were entitled to the Pilgrimage Program, and some mothers to the Swedish born soldiers, who then lived in the USA, took the chance to take the trip over to France to see the graves of their sons.
But many European mothers never got the opportunity to do the trip due to the regulations within the Pilgrimage Program. There are many stories to find in the archives about mothers in Sweden, who wanted to do these trips, financed by the US Government, but never got the chance. I can imagine how that must have felt.
Marie decided to travel to France, but decided to jump off the arrangements for the trip back to the USA, and instead arranged a trip to Norway, to see her daughter. She did that on her own expenses. She later went back to the US but not without some complications regarding tickets for both boat and train back to Washington State.
It must have been a huge trip for the mothers, many of them between 60 and 70 years old at the time around 1930, when many of the trips were made.
Swedish born soldiers in the same unit
On that day, on September 29, 1918, three Swedes were killed in action as well. They were Carl A Nelson and Gustav Wilson from Company L, and Claus E Nygren from Company E. Gustav Wilson was initially buried in the same temporary American Cemetery as Carl M Carlson and Fred Jensen, near Cierges, France. They also belonged to the 361st Infantry Regiment.
Carl A Nelson (Kar August Nilsson) was fron Gillberga parish in Värmland, Claus E Nygren (Klas Edward Nygren) was from Stora Tuna in Dalarna, and Gustav Wilson (Gustav Alfrid ragnar Johansson) was from Härlunda in Västergötland.
His surname Wilson he probably got from his father Wilhelm, which then meant Wilhelms son (Wilhelmsson) but was probably shortened to Wilson.
When looking at the amount of the Swedish soldiers who fought and fell in the 361st Infantry Regiment, I have found that they were 10 in total.
Of those 10 soldiers presented above, all were buried in the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery, except Ernest J A Erickson, who were buried at home in Riverview cemetery, North Dakota, USA, and John Ekwall, who were transported home to Sweden, to be buried in Onslunda cemetery.
17 Swedish born soldiers of those who fell in the war were transported home to Sweden. The relatives to the fallen soldiers were asked about how they wanted their soldier to be buried. They could choose between bringing them home to the US, be buried in France or transported to another location.
John (Johan Alfred) Ekwall was transported to Sweden on January 25th, 1922, with a commercial liner, according to the back side of his burial card.
I have not yet been able to find a photo of his grave here in Sweden.
When I read the book “600 days’ service – A history of the 361st Infantry Regiment” I can also find some Swedes who survived the war and went back to the United States with all the others on the Embarkation Roster, from March 25th, 1919.
They were Arthur William Velin, born in Gothenburg, and John M Erickson (Johan Martialis Eriksson), from Södertälje. In the Draft document he stated his name to be John Martin, as his real names were probably hard to pronounce in his new country.
They still have their Swedish address mentioned in the Roster, which often meant that the relatives or the Next of Kin still lived in Sweden.
As there are many Scandinavian names in the roster over those who survived, I can’t fully rule out there were mores Swedish born soldiers who survived in the 361st Infantry Regiment. Most likely there are.
They came from the North, they were drafted in their new home countries, to join the Great War on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. They are still together, in the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery, as they were that day in September 1918. May Carl and Fred rest in peace.
