Lawrence Weiskircher

World War I

Lawrence Weiskircher was born in Marcus, IA on June 19, 1892 to John and Walburga (known as Bertha) (Schmidt) Weiskircher. His parents were both born in the United States. By 1915, the family had moved to the Milford, IA area.

Lawrence was inducted into the US Army on February 24, 1918, from Dickinson County and assigned serial number 2146337. He was sent to Camp Dodge near Des Moines for training. Once there, he was assigned to Battery E, 339th Field Artillery of the 88th Infantry Division. This unit maintained and operated 155mm howitzers.

The 88th Division had been formed at Camp Dodge in late 1917 but, as it trained its soldiers, continually experienced the re-assignment of its troops to other units. Lawrence was able to visit Milford in June and July during his training. Finally, in August, 1918, the Division had retained and trained sufficient soldiers to be prepared to sail to Europe. By this time, Lawrence had been promoted to Private First Class.

Lawrence and his unit were transported to New Jersey and, on August 24, 1918, sailed from New York Harbor to France aboard the liner “Empress of Britain.” They arrived in France in early September and were sent for additional artillery training at Clermont Ferrand in the south of France. At this point, they were separated from the rest of the 88th Division and never re-joined them during the war.

Records appear to indicate the 339th Field Artillery joined the 89th Division and was initially engaged in battle at St. Mihiel and later in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October and early November. The war ended with the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. Lawrence and his unit then moved into Germany as a part of the Army of Occupation during late November and December. Lawrence was another soldier whose rank was Wagoner rather than Private. This suggests that his duties were handling the horses and other equipment related to moving the howitzers.

During January, 1919, the 339th Field Artillery was ordered back to the US and sailed from Marseille on January 20, 1919, aboard the “Duca D’Aosta.” They arrived in Hoboken, NJ on February 5, 1919, and were processed through Camp Merritt, NJ. Lawrence was discharged on February 18, 1919, apparently from Camp Dodge as he arrived in Milford the next day.

After the war, he moved to the farm he operated west of Templeton. He met and courted Rose Ann Langel of Templeton and, on November 23, 1921, they were wed in Templeton. During December, 1933, he was severely injured in an accident. He never recovered and died of his injuries on September 28, 1934 at age 42.