Austin Bresnen Richeson (1885-1962)

) 14 July 1905 - first enlistment in Chicago, IL at age 19, lied about being 21. Ranks private and corporal to 13 July 1908. Co. F, 1st Infantry. 2) 13 July 1908 - Battalion sgt. major. Co. F, 1st Infantry. 3) 26 Sept 1908 - U.S. Military prison, Alcatraz Island, CA. Posted to duty at Alcatraz as a corporal with 1st Infantry, Co. F. Stationed there to Feb 1909. 4) 29 1909 - Stationed at Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Clack Co, WA. Appointed Battalion Sgt., Co. F, 1st Infantry. 5) 13 July 1914 - Honolulu, Hawaii. End of 9 yrs. of service, discharged as battalion sgt. major. Co. F, 1st Infantry. Pg. 1128 Army Register. Source: Personnel file, U.S. Civil Service, (Social Security Administration and Veterans Affairs Dept.), NARA. 6) 18 April 1917 - Re-enlistment for WW I. Commissioned as captain, infantry section, accepted 30 April. Officers' Reserve Corp. End result of weeks of officers training that Austin took in CA. 7) 1917 - Rank of captain. Posted to Fort Lewis, WA for training. 8) 14 June 1918 - 9 Aug 1918 - Transit by train with the 91st. Division from Washington state to New Jersey, by ship to Southhampton, England and then to Le Havre, France. 9) 27 June 1918-9 Aug 1918 - NYC to England with the 91st. Division (Wild West Division) aboard the RMS Olympic. 10) Sept. 1918 - England to France. 11) 18 Sept 1918 - Rank promoted to major. Served in V Corp with the 91st Division, 364th Regiment. Commanded 1st Battalion. 12) 12–15 September 1918 - Battle of Saint-Mihiel, France under command of Gen. John J. Pershing. 1st. Division advanced from the east and linked with the 26th. Division from the west in a pincer movement that defeated German Army Detachment C, consisting of 8 divisions and a brigade with two divisions in reserve. 13) 26 Sept 1918 - Battle of Meuse-Argonne. Major Richeson's battalion ordered to hold Tronsol Farm 363rd infantry passed his line. Heavy shelling received from the German forces near Exermont, its left flank headed for Tronsol Farm. Major Richeson was wounded in the chest by machine gun fire during this successful repulse. He was evacuated to first aid station only after delivering command to the senior captain of his battalion. He spent the next 30 hrs. being transported until arriving at a field hospital where it was determined not to perform surgery on him. His battalion had behaved as well on the defense September 29 as on the day before. He was recommended for the distinguished service cross and his courageous action and initiative was later cited in army orders by General Pershing. 14) Feb 1919 - Return to U.S. soil at Fort Dix, NJ. Demobilized at Los Angeles, CA after further treatment and recovery from his wound at Letterman Hospital, San Francisco. Discharged from the army as a major. 15) Sept 1922 - appointed assistant manager for Portland's first Veterans Bureau office. 16) Jan 1926 - Testimony before Congressional subcommittee in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Austin Richeson travels to D.C. to plead the case of volunteer veterans of WW I regarding their disability rights. Austin Richeson carried the German machine gun round in his chest the rest of his life. He was my grandfather. Sources: Federal census, burial records, Oregonian obituary, NARA military records, "The Story of the 91st Division", San Francisco 91st Division Publication Committe, San Mateo, CA 1919. Also, "The 364th Infantry in America, France, & Belgium" by Wilson and Bryant, available online through the Internet Archive at: http://www.archive.org/details/with364thinfantry00wilslala Retirement record: Official Army Register, Vol. II, Army of the United States and other retired lists, Jan 1, 1954. Page 373. No service number is given and the NARA had none for Austin B. Richeson.