In anticipation of Veterans Day on November 11, 2024, Blake Watson is providing six short stories from his recently published book, Kansas and Kansans in World War I: Service at Home and Abroad. The book along with other book selections (https://kansaspress.ku.edu/veterans-day-titles-from-upk/) are currently available for 30% off with free shipping* by entering code: 24VETERANS at checkout. *free shipping is for US addresses only*
KANSAS RECIPIENTS OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the armed forces of the United States. In World War I there were four recipients with Kansas connections: John Balch, Erwin Bleckley, George Mallon, and George Robb.
John Balch was born in Edgerton but attended high school at Syracuse. In 1917, he left the University of Kansas to become a Pharmacist’s Mate First Class, a naval officer who administers medical assistance to members of the US Marine Corps. As a corpsman, Balch earned three Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor. Two medals were awarded for heroism at Belleau Wood in June 1918 when—during a night attack—Balch evacuated wounded men at the risk of his life and displayed coolness under shell fire. In July the young Kansan earned the Medal of Honor when he “worked unceasingly for sixteen hours, giving assistance to the wounded on a field torn by high explosive shells and covered by direct machine-gun fire.” In 1942 he volunteered for WWII service at age 45, declaring that “If MacArthur can fight at his age, I sure can.”
Erwin Bleckley of Wichita earned his posthumous Medal of Honor in connection with efforts to find and assist the famous “Lost Battalion” in the Argonne Forest. He accompanied the pilot of an airplane that drew enemy fire as it flew over heavily wooded terrain to drop supplies to the surrounded Americans. On their second trip, the plane was shot down and both men were killed. Wichita renamed Harding Boulevard as Bleckley Drive, and in 2018 the city celebrated “Bleckley Day” with speeches and flyovers from vintage and replica World War I aircraft.
George Mallon of Ogden was a brawny man who in 1901 was the US Army boxing champion of the Philippine Islands. At age forty, he led men into battle on September 26, 1918, the first day of the Meuse-Argonne offensive. At one point, as he recalled, he encountered a German officer with a half-drawn pistol and “let him have one full on the chin.” By the end of the day, he and his ten men captured 100 Germans and seized 11 machine guns, 4 howitzers, and 1 anti-aircraft gun. The fighting days for the pugilistic captain ended on October 1 due to a wound in the right thigh caused by a high explosive shell. After the war, Mallon and his family lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners.
George Robb of Salina was a white officer serving with the 369th Infantry—an African-American National Guard unit from New York known as the Harlem Hellfighters. During two days of intense fighting, he was struck in the head and the back, and narrowly avoided further injury when a bullet went through the top of his helmet. Robb also suffered shrapnel wounds in his arm, hand, neck, and ear. Due to the deaths of other officers, the twenty-one-year-old Kansan assumed command of his company and led the men forward to their objective. George Robb returned home and held two government positions: postmaster of Salina and state auditor. He passed away at 84 in 1972.
NEXT: GOLD STAR MOTHERS AND WIDOWS.
