Research in Tennessee and at the National Archives

WWI photos retrieved in our trip this October.

This past week Mark and I traveled to Knoxville, TN, home of the 117th infantry regiment which was part of the 30th Division during World War I.  Walter fought in the 117th and we wanted to research this regiment to learn more about the men, officers and campaigns during the Great War.

We spent several hours at the Knoxville County Library, looking at microfilm of 1918 newspaper articles about the 117th during the war.  There were many interesting contemporary accounts of the battles in which the 117th engaged, including personal letters of the men involved, which we copied for our records.

Newspaper article describing the breaking of the Hindenberg Line in France.  The 117th Regiment was part of this battle. 

More about the battle.

Homecoming celebration in Knoxville for 117th regiment at the end of World War I.

We also researched at the McClung Special Collections in the library.  This section has old files, including the papers of General Tyson, head of the 59th Brigade which included the 117th and 118th infantries.  At the McClung we were also able to review microfilm of the Tennessee World War I Gold Star records of Tennessee men killed in the War.

General Tyson. in middle.

From Knoxville we headed to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C..   We spent two and a half days at the Archives copying Signal Corps Official Photos from World War I and Signal Corps films taken during that time period.

National Archives II, College Park, Maryland

Emily Haddad researching photos at the National Archives.

Mark and I met with Mitchell Yockelson, the military historian who wrote the book, "Borrowed Soldiers," which was so helpful in our research of the II American Corps assigned to the British in 1918.  The 30th Division and the 27th Division were both part of II Corps.  Mitch directed us to very interesting areas of research and photos at the National Archives.  It was great to finally meet him in person and to discuss the documentary and a possible future trip to the WWI battlefields in France with him as our guide.

Mitchell Yockelson, author of "Borrowed Soldiers," and Emily Haddad at the National Archives.

All in all it was an amazing trip; we learned a tremendous amount and were able to collect a large amount of visual material which will make our film come alive and allow us to really expand the information on our website.  We look forward to our next trip to the National Archives, probably sometime in the spring of 2013.

Channel 12 News clip about Walter Lindahl and Victory Memorial Drive

Here is a news clip about Walter Lindahl and our family's quest to find out the facts of his life and death.  The  report was broadcast in July 2011 after the re-dedication of Victory Memorial Drive where Walter is memorialized along with 567 other Hennepin County soldiers who died in World War I.

Click on the link below to see the Channel 12 News report

Channel 12 News report on Walter Lindahl

Inspirations for the Documentary

I have read many books during the past year that have provided inspiration, insights and critical information about World War I and about the experiences of Walter Lindahl and the 27th and 30th Divisions during the war.  Here is a list of some of the best ones:



 "Birdsong" is a beautifully-written fictional account of the Great War.  The author captures the horror, carnage, futility and hopelessness of trench warfare.



"Borrowed Soldiers" by Mitchell Yockelson is extremely well-written, well-researched history of the 27th and 30th Divisions of the American Army which were assigned to the British Expeditionary Force during the last six months of the Great War.  Walter Lindahl was part of the 30th Division and Mr. Yockelson's book has been an excellent resource for me in researching Walter's experiences during his time in France.  I hope to get to Washington, D.C. this fall to meet with Mr. Yockelson and interview him for the documentary.  I also hope to return to northern France and Belgium during the next year, along with Mr. Yockelson, so that he can describe on camera details of the battles which took place nearly 95 years ago.





"The Last Full Measure" describes the weapons, their ferocity and  the wounds they inflict on soldiers during war. The author also examines how soldiers prepare for the possibility of their death during battle. What did soldiers in World War I think about during the night before they were to "go over the top," waves of soldiers rushing en masse at heavily-fortified enemy lines?  Two of the letters from Walter's buddies describe Walter's death on the battlefield.  This book helped me to understand how he might have prepared himself and accepted his death that day of October 7, 1918. I would like to interview the author, Michael Stephenson, some time during the next year.

Mark and I bought "The Thirtieth Division in the World War".  It is a contemporary account of the Division's actions during the War and full of essential information.

Finally, the "American Armies and Battlefields in Europe" edition from 1938 (written and edited by General Dwight D. Eisenhower) has been invaluable for the information and the military maps of the battlefields and memorials in Belgium and northern France.

Meeting with Pauline DeCook

Pauline DeCook, daughter of Naldo Steenhoek

Last Friday, July 13, 2012, my brother, Mark Thompson, and I drove down to Byron, Minnesota (8 miles from Rochester).  We were meeting Pauline DeCook, daughter of Naldo Steenhoek.

Naldo was one of Walter's buddies in Company I.  We think he was part of Walter's machine gun crew.  Two or three soldiers carried pieces of the Lewis machine gun and advanced over the top with the purpose of setting it up at some point during the attack on the Germans.

Walter was shot that morning of October 7, 1918 and took shelter in a shallow bomb crater.  Naldo was with Walter as he lay dying that day.  We think they were both tied down by the withering German machine gun fire, coming from their left flank and from in front of them.  No medics could get to Walter; and he died that evening. In 1921, Martin Schadeck, Walter's closest buddy during the war, wrote to Naldo to ask the circumstances in which Walter had died.  Naldo wrote the following letter back to Martin.

First page of original letter from 1921. Below is a transcription of the entire letter.

Private Naldo Steenhoek, Company I, 117th Regiment 30th Division

Naldo's daughter, Pauline, was so gracious to us when we stopped by to spend an afternoon talking about her father and our great-uncle during the Great War. Thanks so much to Pauline.  We intend to stay in touch with her and other members of her family to let them know developments on our film project.