Sgt. Paul R. Fogel wrote this letter to his brother Corporal Russell E. Fogel on September 21, 1918. Paul was writing from Siberia, where he was serving with the American Expeditionary Force, probably in the 27th Infantry. Corporal Russell Fogel was serving in France with the 123rd Heavy Field Artillery’s Machine Gun Company. This letter is from the collection of Patricia Clarke Fogel.

Why were Paul Fogel and other Stephenson County men in Russia? In July 1918, President Woodrow Wilson began sending US troops to join other Allied forces in Russia. The official reason was to guard military supplies and the Trans-Siberian Railroad, but they also wanted to weaken the Bolsheviks. The United States Army specifically selected units whose soldiers were from Northern Illinois and other parts of the upper Midwest because they thought they’d be used to cold weather. (The soldiers would say later they were used to cold weather, but not the 50 degrees below zero weather of a Siberian winter.) US troops remained in Siberia until March 1920, well after World War I ended November 11, 1918.

Paul R. Fogel and Russell E. Fogel were sons of Abraham Lincoln and Alice Jane (Armagast) Fogel. Paul Revere Fogel was born July 3, 1897 near Lena, Stephenson County, Illinois. His name does not appear on either the Honor Roll of the Great War, Stephenson County or on any World War I Draft Registration Card I could find online. This may have been because he may have enlisted before the United States declared war. Russell Fogel’s listing in Honor Roll of the Great War, Stephenson County states that he enlisted in 1916, so perhaps Paul enlisted then too. I also can’t find records stating the unit with which Paul served. Records for several of the men he named state they served with the 27th Infantry, and Paul said he was with them.

Why Paul Fogel arrived in Siberia wearing tropical clothing is more easily explained. According to fellow Freeporter, Harry Hoyman, in his “My Year In Siberia,” units of the 27th and 31st Infantry arrived in Siberia from serving in the Philippines. Chapter XLI, American Expeditionary Forces In Siberia, from The Medical Department of the United States Army In The World War (refer to the source list below) states the troops who sailed from the Philippines left Manila August 5 and 12, and arrived at Vladivostok on August 15-16. It would have been very warm in the Philippines in August. Once the 27th and 31st Infantry Regiments settled in Vladivostok, the base, they established a field hospital, an ambulance company, evacuation hospital, and a medical supply depot. By October 1918, there were 7,894 officers and men. Of these, between 1,000 and 1,800 served in the immediate vicinity of Vladivostok, and the rest were widely scattered.

I don’t know in which facility Paul Fogel served. The field hospital had an average personnel of 5 officers and 70 enlisted men. The Evacuation Hospital, used as the base hospital for the expedition, was located about 3 miles from Vladivostok and had a normal capacity of 400 beds. Twenty-one officers and 236 men served there. “In addition to the troops, this hospital cared for the sick from a German prison camp with approximately 500 prisoners, which was under American control, Young Men’s Christian Association workers, Knights of Columbus, Russian railway engineers service corps, many patients from United States battleships stationed at Vladivostok and a large number of civilians.” “The only occasion when it was called upon to care for battle casualties was on June 25, 1919, after an attack by Bolsheviki upon an American detachment of 70 men. Forty-five of these were taken to the hospital, 19 dead and 27 wounded.”

After the war, Paul Fogel married Grace Kerr on May 21, 1925. He died July 2, 1932 in California.

Russell Elverton Fogel was born June 11, 1896 near Lena, Stephenson County, Illinois. He enlisted in 1916 in Freeport and served with Battery E of the 123rd Heavy Field Artillery. He was discharged June 7, 1919 at Camp Grant, which was at the southern edge of Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois. (Seth Atwood Park and the Rockford Airport occupy roughly the same area today.) Russell Fogel married Helen Susan Huber on July 6, 1920 in Stephenson County. He died August 11, 1972 in Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois. Refer to my Rootsweb.com family tree, “ The Horner Family Of Carroll County, Illinois (And Nearly Everyone Else)” for more information on the Fogel family.

Fred David Berg registered for World War I on June 5, 1917; he was born in Bolton, Stephenson County on January 5, 1893. He was a fruit and ice cream dealer and lived at 51 Jackson Street Freeport when he registered. He enlisted May 1, 1918 in Freeport and served as a Private with Company H, 27th Infantry in Siberia. He died June 1967 in Freeport.

Otto Keehn (Keehn is the correct spelling) was born July 2, 1894 in Freeport. When he signed his World War I Draft Registration card on June 5, 1917, he lived at 63 Center Street in Freeport and was a machinist at Stover Manufacturing Company. He enlisted May 1, 1918 in Freeport and served with the 27th Infantry in Siberia. After the war, he married and was living with his wife in Moline, Illinois in 1930. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs shows he died March 22, 1955 and is buried at the Rock Island National Cemetery.

Toby Leiber appears in the Honor Roll of the Great War, Stephenson County as Henry W. Lieber. He was born September 10, 1893 in Freeport, and was working as a plumber in Freeport when he registered for World War I. He enlisted May 1, 1918 in Freeport, and served as a Private with the 27th Division in Siberia. I found a Henry Lieber on the Social Security Death Index having the same date of birth who died in October 1947 but with no place of death given. This Social Security number was issued in Illinois, and the first 3 digits, 330, are typical for people who applied in Northern Illinois in the 1930s. The man is quite possibly the same Henry Lieber.

Deac LeVeque is Leslie George LeVeque. When he registered for the World War I Draft on June 5, 1917, he left off the year of his birth, but his date of birth was September 26, and his age was 23; he was also born in Freeport. He was a welder at Stover Steel Tank Works in Freeport, and lived at 162 Elk Street, Freeport. He is not listed in the Honor Roll of the Great War, Stephenson County. He returned to Freeport after the war and continued to work as a welder. I have been unable to find the date of his death.

Harry Benjamin Wieman registered for the World War I Draft on June 5, 1917, stating he was born August 27, 1892 In German Valley, Stephenson County. He lived at 240 Union Street, Freeport and was the manager of an oil company (gas stations were called oil companies in that era). He enlisted May 1, 1918 in Freeport and served as a Corporal in Company G of the 27th Infantry. He died in September 1973 in Freeport.

Sources:
Siberian Duty Memories Linger On, by Duncan Birdsell, Freeport Journal Standard City Editor. Transcribed by Alice Horner for The Great War Society’s The Great War Society"> This transcription is under the heading: Looking Back: Three Veterans Recall Siberia

My Year in Siberia, by PFC Harry Hoyman, transcribed by Alice Horner for the The Great War Society This account was published in the book The History of Stephenson County 1970, published by the County of Stephenson, Freeport, Illinois. Copyright 1972, and transcribed with their permission and the permission of the Stephenson County Historical Society.

Honor Roll of the Great War, Stephenson County 1917-1919. This book has no publisher’s page.

Russian Sideshow, America’s Undeclared War 1918-1920, by Robert L. Willett, published by Brassey’s, Inc., Washington, D.C. 2003

The Medical Department of the United States Army In The World War, Volume VIII Field Operations, Prepared Under The Direction of Maj. Gen. M. W. Ireland, The Surgeon General, Chapter XLI American Expeditionary Forces In Siberia. Special thanks to Michael Hanlon, The Great War Society webmaster, for acquainting me with this source.