World War I Roster Book – my Grandfather’s from the 132nd Machine Gun Battalion
My grandfather was in Company B of the 132nd Machine Gun Battalion in World War I. I wrote an article about letters he sent back previously. I also had a roster book for his company which, in May of 2013 I donated to the outstanding National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City. At the time, I did not take pictures or scan the pages of the booklet, and due to the previously mentioned article, I have been contacted by people asking if their relatives name appeared in the roster book. On a recent trip to see best friends Vercie and Lisa, and to see the Green Bay Packers beat their Kansas City Chiefs, I fixed that mistake. Many thanks to Jonathan Casey, the Director of Archives, for setting up the book so I could photograph it. And lots of thanks to my friend Vercie and my gorgeous wife for gently holding this old roster book gently open.
The book is only a few pages long, but there is so much history embedded in it that I will put full-sized photos of each page here (and send back to the museum).
Cover
There is no date stating when this book was printed. One would assume it was after the war was over and the Company released. My grandfather made it back to the states in May 1919
Honor Roll
This is a list of those killed in action or dead of disease. Thankfully it is a short list with only five names listed.
Enlisted with Rank and Address
There are seven pages (and a bit) of enlisted men, sorted by rank and then alphabetically (at least most of the time). There are 181 names listed. My grandfather, Corporal Ellis Edmond Ketchersid, is listed on the second page of this list. The list included the city, state and in some cases the “Street or RFD” address for each man.
The 132nd Machine Gun Battalion was part of the 36th Division, First Army in World War I. The 36th was called the “Texas-Oklahoma” Division, but as can be seen in the list of City/State pairs there were men from other parts of the country .
The first page includes 16 Sergeants, including the 1st Sergeant, Supply Sergeant, Mess Sergeant and Stable Sergeant. All are from Oklahoma or Texas, except for the Supply Sergeant from Alabama and one of the Sergeants from Illinois.
There are 16 Corporals listed, including my grandfather. This next page of the roster includes three cooks, three mechanics, two buglers, a horseshoer and a saddler.Â
The previous page and the next two list 45 men with the rank of Private 1st class.There are 94 men listed with the Rank of Private, including many from outside Texas and Oklahoma.
Wounded or Transferred
The next three pages in the book list those members of the 132nd Machine Gun Battalion who have been wounded or transferred for other reasons. If the roster is accurate there were 5 men killed (from the initial page of the roster book) and 18 wounded, all in “action near Somme Py, France on October 8th 1918.”
Officers
The 132nd Machine Gun Battalion shows its roots with the Captain and one of the 1st Lieutenants being from Texas.
Back page
There is a Private 1st class Paul Jackson listed in the roster book. I have to assume my grandfather got this roster book from him, based on this inscription at the back.
They most likely did not know each other before enlisting. Paul Jackson’s home city in the roster is Cherokee, OK, which is in the north part of the state near the Kansas border. My grandfather’s home city is listed as Gould, OK, which is in the southwestern corner of the state. Gould is near Altus, OK, where he lived when we would visit him when we were kids.
I believe I have a picture of that company taken in May 1919 before they would have shipped home. My grandfather was in it.
I’d really like to see that!
This is so cool. My Great Grandfather was George Meeks Pvt 1cl
My great-great grandfather was George Meeks Pvt 1cl. I have lots of negatives I am working on getting developed of what I believe is Camp Bowie ~1918. I would also love to see a company photo and will gladly share all of my photos once I get them scanned and uploaded.
Hi Justin. Those photos will be awesome to see!
This was so helpful, thank you for sharing it. I now know where Albert Ary was wounded in action.
My great grandfather was Josiah R Meister – we have his footlocker from the war, which contains a copy of this same roster book!
Would you happen to know how your grandfather compiled all this information, or how he reached other servicemembers to send out copies? Apparently my great grandfather paid the dollar for one!
Hi Keith. Grandpa just had the book, and I inherited his letters. I did a bit of research to get the rest. I wish I would have spoken to him more about it when he was alive, but he was pretty close-mouthed about the experience.
Background of Bravo Company’s captain, Aubrey Hudson by his grandson, Joseph J. W. Motsch May 24, 2024:
My dear and beloved grandfather Aubrey Slaughter Hudson, was born in Pearsall Texas on April 13, 1896, his dad was a rancher, Texas Marshall, county sheriff and constable. Grandpa became a rancher and cattle stockmen for a number of years. He was then mustered by special State of Texas Governor’s request to attend officers candidate school and was assigned the U. S. Army Cavalry under the flag of the Texas Frontier Forces. During the crucial hours of need by the allies in Europe, he went to serve upon the French Front as company commander of Bravo Company, 136 Machine Gun Battalion, 36th Infantry Division. He was awarded a number of battlefield promotions up to Colonel and then relinquished that rank upon the end of World War I, being then honorably discharged as a Captain. He went to become a senior U. S. Border Patrol commander and helped start up the first Border Patrol Mounted personnel and retired as Border Patrol Chief of the Southwest operating area of the United States. He was then called upon by the War Department to become one of the instrumental leaders in setting up and overseeing the operations of a number of Japanese-American detainment camps and then helped in transitioning those camps to hold German diplomats and German Navy POWs. He went on to serve as the Camp Gary senior security officer in Texas and retired to his ranch in Pearsall in or about the early 1960s. My mom died overseas in September 19665 and grandpa apparently died of a broken heart only three months later on December 7, 1965. I loved him dearly in the few years i knew him as his young grandson, he trained me to properly tend to and ride horses and to safely and sensibly utilized guns to hunt with. Part of him in my young soul, compelled me to go on and attend military prep school and eventually serve as a Soldier in the U. S. Army and ultimately as a civil servant to both the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense. May God bless all those American Soldiers that served in World War I and their families.