The Case of the Missing Memorial

[Patrick]

Good Morning

Here a cross posting from histoforums

the missing memorial

in the hope some participants can come in with some info thanks

Patrick

The Case of the Missing Memorial

Information is being sought concerning a World War I memorial whose location has been lost to modern memory. The memorial is to the 9th Machine Gun Battalion, U.S. 3rd Division, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).

The memorial, a 4-sided obelisk contained a dedication to the 9th Machine Gun Battalion, with the name of Captain Henry A. Barber, Jr., named as company commander of Co. “A,” 9th Machine Gun Battalion.

The grandson of Captain Henry A. Barber, Jr., remembers having visited the memorial in 1959 when he was 12 years of age and with his father, Henry A. Barber, III. The grandson states that the monument was off by itself and not near any town. Henry A. Barber, IV (the grandson) says:

“It was off what I would call a very wide black top country road or maybe even a country highway. It was really in the middle of nowhere from what I recall. It was a four-sided obelisk with a dedication to his unit with his name as the company commander. I recall a dedication to a French unit as well and I had thought an English unit but I have been told that the English were not in the area. I know the French were though. As to the other two sides [of the obelisk] I cannot remember.

I was 12. I don’t know how tall it was but I would guess that the monument, which was considerably taller than I was, was abut 10 to 15 feet tall. The obelisk was on a base. It was not a very wide base, in proportion to the obelisk itself. It was not what I would call a gross or massive base as have seen under some other memorials.

The site itself was approximately 20 feet or perhaps 30 feet off of the side of the road and I remember it was in a clearing with what I would call a copse of trees. I do not recall a river being nearby. Doesn’t mean much though, because I remember we had been all over that day. My father had a very hard time finding the memorial.”

Henry Barber, Jr., was not promoted from Lieutenant to Captain until the drive on the St. Mihiel Salient in September, 1918. Although the 9th Machine Gun Battalion evidently fought in the Aisne Defensive Campaign of 1918 and as a unit of the U.S. 3rd Division defending against the German assault crossing of the Marne River on 15 July 1918, (Lt. Barber received the DSC for heroic actions), it was in corps reserve for the St. Mihiel battle.

I do not think the memorial is located anyplace in the Marne Salient of 1918, i.e., that area comprised of Soissons, Reims and Château-Thierry. The logical deduction here is that the memorial is/was probably in the area of the Meuse-Argonne, as this is where the 9th Machine Gun Battalion fought its greatest battle and where it received the most casualties.

Could the memorial be located where the U.S. 3rd Division fought, i.e., the vicinity of Cunel?

Henry A. Barber, Jr., was not present as commanding officer during the Meuse-Argonne fight, as he was evidently attending 2nd Corps School. Anyone with information on this memorial can greatly aid the preservation of American military history by coming forth with its past or present location.

Thank you, David Homsher