Peter and Frank Linn - World War I Service

We have many military ancestors in our family, dating back to the early 1700's in Sweden. Recently, one reader asked about stories of Peter and Gus and their service, but today I'm going to start with a look at two ancestors that we all know: Peter Linn and his brother Frank Linn.

In 1973, a fire burned over 80% of the World War I soldiers' records in St. Louis. Without all of those details, we are left to piece together from the remaining records and stories we have been told, the experiences of both Frank and Peter Linn. Burnt in Memory: About the 1973 Fire

Those of us who descend from Peter know a great deal about his war experiences. Stories were told to family members. We always knew in what unit he served. In future posts I will include some stories about his service in World War I, but today we begin at the beginning with his draft card:

Peter Linn's World War I Draft Card, dated June 5, 1917

His brother Frank Linn also served in World War I; and, although less is known about Frank's war experience, I'm excited about what I did find out that I'll share in these posts, starting with this draft card, dated the same day as his brother's:

Frank Linn's World War I Draft Card, dated June 5, 1917

Peter reported for basic training at Camp Dodge in May of 1918. Frank reported sometime in July 1918. Camp Dodge was the home of the 88th division, also known as a "draft division" meaning that both Peter and Frank would have been drafted into service. These two young Iowa farm boys were part of a famous photograph taken at Camp Dodge, known as the "human Statue of Liberty," formed by 18,000 posed soldiers as part of a promotional campaign to sell war bonds during World War I. The photo, however, was never used. Can you spot either Peter or Frank below? No one in our family ever thought to ask them where they stood. But my understanding is that several soldiers fainted while standing in their wool uniforms on that hot and humid Iowa July day.

Take a look at other photographs from Camp Dodge, courtesy of the Des Moines Register. Camp Dodge Photos

Peter was assigned to Company E, 349th Infantry, of the 88th Division, and on August 9, 1918, he shipped off for Europe aboard the Olympic. (Line 135 on the following army transport service list.) The ship that Peter sailed on, the Olympic, interestingly, was the sister ship to the Titanic. Much has been written about this ship and its involvement as a troop transport in World War I.

Peter Linn, Serial #3226704, Andrew Linn is emergency contact

Peter's assignment was straight forward. He was assigned to a specific company in a specific infantry and division and stayed with that group of soldiers for the duration of his service. However, Frank's assignment was a bit different. After completing his basic training at Camp Dodge, Frank was assigned to what was known as a "casual unit", sent to Camp Gordon, where he was assigned to the August Automatic Replacement Draft (AARD), Company 25 Infantry. The men assigned to this unit were used as backfill to existing units in France. Frank shipped out on September 1, 1918, on the Belgic and, once overseas, was assigned to Company C, 163rd Infantry, 41st Division. Frank's entry is on line #145 on the following army transport service list.

Frank Linn, Serial #4004152, Andrew Linn is emergency contact

This information gets our two ancestors to Europe. Before we look into their activities in Europe, there is one more story about their time at Camp Dodge to share in the next post.