The Men Who Fought in Belleau Wood | American Experience | PBS

On June 6, 1918, the Battle of Belleau Woods began. It would be the first US victory of WWI. Most of us know the history of the battle and the exploits of Daniel Daly and the remarks of Captain Lloyd Williams; however, many of the individual heroism of everyday Americans is worth remembering. Can you imagine having been shot in both legs, but dressing your comrade's wounds before your own? Remarkable. From the article:

"Who were these men who fought so bravely and ferociously in Belleau Wood? One of the more well-known veterans of that confrontation was writer Laurence Stallings, who lost a leg at Belleau Wood. After the war, Stallings co-wrote the play, What Price Glory?, and later, in addition to his work as a critic and a screenplay writer, compiled a survey of the American Expeditionary Forces called "The Doughboys." Pvt. Albert McArdle of East Boston was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for exceptional bravery in action. The Boston Daily Globe reported that Pvt. McArdle, "while dressing the wounds of a man in the front trench first aid station at Belleau Wood was shot through both thighs, but as his patient was desperately in need of emergency care he completed the work that saved the man's life before he staunched his own wounds."

Aside from these notable veterans, there are hundreds of others who were wounded and killed in that dense, dark forest in France. An article in The New York Times from July 26, 1918 claims that casualty lists given out the day before were "the heaviest for New York yet issued." It goes on to list those killed, wounded and missing from Belleau Wood and other campaigns in the area. In reading the brief background of each fallen man, a deeper story beyond the statistics of war begins to take shape."