The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America

Purple Heart No. 112

Todd Wheatley, OMSA No. 752

p urple Hearts awarded for wounds received during World War I are common. Many specimens are in

collections across the land. Rarely, however, do col- lectors know much about a particular Purple Heart beyond the information noted on the award card main- tained by the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army. Typically, the card contains the name and rank of the recipient, the date he was wounded in action, his organ- ization, the date of issue of the award by the Adjutant General, and a file number. The only exception would probably be an award to a family member. Such is the case of a Purple Heart impressed on the edge near the point with ’" ! 12." It was awarded to my father

In 1932, my father, Edwin T. Wheatley (Horton, Kansas), was decorated with Purple Heart No. 112 ~ The award was for wounds received in action on 28 October 1918 during the Meuse-Argo~me offensive while serving as a 1st Lieutenant, National Army, in com- mand of Company G, 354th Infantry Regiment, 89th Division. By 1932, he was a Captain in the regular estabhshment serving as the Adju- tant of the 6th Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The presentation of the Purple Heart to Captain Wheatley was made by Colonel Walter Krueger, the regi- mental commander.

On 19 October 1918, 1st Lieutenant Wheatley was reassigned from com- mand of Company A to Company G of the 354th hffantry. On 28 October, Company G, then in regimental reserve, was ordered to relieve Company K in the Bois de Romange sector. Company K had taken several casual- ties from artillery fire in the preceding days, and the Doughboys in the company were decidedly jumpy. In

Home towns are ~ndicated w~thin parenthesis

order to minimize the possibility of observation by German artillery, the relief by Company G did not begin until sunset but was successfully completed a short time later at about 2000 hours.

The Commanding Officer of Company K was Captain Charnell A. Reynolds (Topeka, Kansas). It was quickly determined that Reynolds had "lost the will to fight" and

was suffering from an acute case of "dugout fever" by refusing to leave the relative safety of his command post to tend to the needs of his company. As a consequence, the officers and NCOs of Company G positioned their platoons on the line without the assistance of personnel from Company K.

The relief did not go mmot~ced by German artillery observers. As soon as it was completed, they directed fire at Company G fallowing stan- dard procedure - the first round beyond the target, the second one short, and the third round on the target before "ftrmg for effect." This time, however, the shelling ended with the third round.

Captain Wheatley and his bride Elizabeth

Lewis of Horton, Kansas. Picture taken in

Coblenz, Germany, during January 1920.

My father was standing flanked by Sergeant John R. Slay (St. Louis, Missouri) and 1st Sergeant Mark L. Wilt (Goshen, Indiana) when the third round with the customary "whiz-bang" landed some twenty feet distant. The two NCOs "hit the ground," but my father merely leaned away from the explosion, raising his

arm to protect his head from shrapnel.

The circumstances surrounding nay father’s wounding are expressed in his dairy, in anger and frustration. He clearly remembered the distinctive "whiney-hum" sound of flying shrapnel, which prompted him to note that "It’s not true that you don’t hear the one gets you." As for the impact of the shrapnel, he wrote that it felt like "someone

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Volume 52 Number 6

HEADQUARTERS 354th Infantry

GENERAL ORDERS) AEF France 12 May 1919

Number 15)

i. Under the provisions of Par. 8. General Orders No. ii0, G. H. Q. American Expeditionary Force, July 7th 1918, the following named officer formerly of this regi- ment, is authorized to wear the Wound Cheveron:

Captain Edwin T. Wheatley Wounded by High Explosive, 28 October 1918 Bois de Romange.

BY ORDER OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL CRYSTAL

Captain, 354th Infantry Adjutant

The authorization for Captain Wheatley to wear the Wound Chevron. Until the resurrection of the

Purple Heart in 1932, each b~stance of a wounding in action was indicated by a gold chevron worn on

the right sleeve of the uniform blouse.

had taken a ten-foot swing with a 2X4 and hit me it the back" A few seconds after the round exploded, my father picked himself up and began experiencing excruciating pain. Sergeant Wilt noticed some bleeding and rendered first aid. Wilt, a graduate osteopath, was affectionately called "Doc" by the men of Company G.

Wilt then detailed four litter bearers who took turns carrying my father to a dressing station some two kilo- meters to the rear of the line. After a period of treatment at Base Hospital No 67, he was discharged from the Detachment of Patients on 30 December 1918 and returned to duty.

On 28 October 1918, command of Colnpany G was passed to its Executive Officer, 1st Lmutenant Clyde M. Ewers (Beloit, Wisconsin). Lieutenant Ewers led the company with distinction to the Armistice and afterwards in Trier, Germany, during the occupation.

For his service as a rifle company commander at St. Mihiel and in the Meuse Argonne offensive, my father was promoted to the rank of Captain on 8 April 1919. The promotion was recommended by Colonel Conrad S. Babcock, the comrnander of the 354th lnfantry Regiment.

Edwin T. Wheatley was born in Horton, Kansas, on 5 June 1895. He served as a Sergeant in Company B, 1st Kansas hffantry Regiment at Eagle Pass, Texas, in 1916 and was awarded the Mexican Border Service Medal. He then attended Kansas State University for one year and in May 1917 was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry in the National Army. In 1920, my father was commissioned into the Regular Army and retired as a Major in 1939 because of tuberculosis. He was recalled to active duty in 1942 and served in the Air Corps as a limited-duty officer. Lieutenant Colonel Wheatley retired again in 1946 and died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on 6 January 1976.

32

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New series FRN production nears Treasury officials approve signatures for 2001 notes By Michele Orzano COIN WORLD Staff

The signatures of Treasury See- retary Paul H. O’Neill and United States Treasurer Rosario Matin will soon appear on Series 2001 Federal Reserve notes.

As of Oct. 5, production of the new series had not yet begun, but printing was expected to begin soon as both Treasury officials have appro,~ed their signatures that will be used on the notes.

The new series is necessary because of the change in adminis- trations. It takes the Bureau of Engraving and Printing about two months to create new plates once both signatures are available.

The series date is based on the year a new secretary of the Trea- sury is sworn in or when there is a significant change in the cur-

SIGNATURES of newTrea- sury secretary and U.S. trea- surer will appear on Series 2001 Federal Reserve notes.

rency. If a new treasurer takes office and the current secretary remains in office, the series date has the letter ’~" added to it.

O’Neill was confirmed as the 72nd Treasury secretary on Jan. 20, just hours after President

George W. Bush entered office. O’Neill, 65, recently retired from Alcoa Inc., where he’d served as chairman since 1987.

As secretary, O’Neill serves as Bush’s key economic adviser and plays a crucial role in policy- making regarding economic and financial issues. He has been exceptionally busy testifying before congressional banking committees and meeting with his international counterparts in the wake of the Sept. I1 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Matin, 42, was confirmed by the full Senate Aug. 3. As treasur- er she has oversight responsibili-

ties for the U.S. Mint, BEP and the U.S. Savings Bond program.

A formal signing ceremony was planned for Oct. 9 in the Treasury offices.

Silver stockpile drops to under 15 million ounces Mint officials preparing plan to bqy silver on market for coin programs By William T. Gibbs COIN WORLD Staff

The United States Mint has just less than 15 million ounces of silver in its stockpile, enough to produce this year’s American Eagle silver dollars and the 2002 West Point Bicentennial silver dol- lar and to begin production of the 2002 American Eagles, Mint officials revealed Oct. 4.

However, Mint officials are preparing a pro- curement plan to purchase silver on the open mar- ket once the Mint uses up the metal in its silver stockpile, which could occur in less than a year based on silver usage in recent years. The Mint has not had to purchase silver on the open market for more than 30 years.

The Mint’s silver stockpile, transferred to it by the Defense National Stockpile Center arm of the Defense Logistics Agency, has dropped to

14,918,000 ounces. The Mint also has 15 million to 20 million ounces of "Treasury’~ silver.

U.S. Mint officials revealed details about the state of its silver stockpile only after Coin World formally requested the information through the federal Freedom of Information Act. Mint offi- cials had repeatedly refused to answer questions regarding the stockpile until forced to by Coin

Please see SILVER Page 32

THE SILVER STOCKPILE, used for such Nint programs as the Silver Proof sets, commemorative coins and American Eagle bullion coins, has dropped to less than 15 million ounces.

¯ DEFENS~E."OF. FREEDOM medal ~be awarded in,:~og- nition of civilian employees of the Dep~rtme~t,6f, D~fefise Idil~l. or wounded in the Sept.. i I attacks on Americ~ I~li!’,m~/per- sonnel will receive the ~traditionaI,Purple Hear~

Defense-of:Freed0m award tO go to. DoD civilian,victims New.decoration ~result-of Sept.- 1.,1. attacks.

Civilian employees of the Department-of Defense. killed or w.0,unded in the Sept.. 1 ! attagks on Amerie~ will be be record w~m a new award~ the Secretary of Defense Medalfor the Defense of Freedom. Milita~. personnel will receive the l~aditional-t~e Heart..

Secretary Of Defense.Donald H. Rumsfddannounccedthe new Department of Defense. civilian award Sept. 27. Secretary Rums-

feld describedthe civilians killed 0r wounded in the~attaek as "r¢Om= bat casualties - brave men andwomen who risked their 1ires to safeguard our f~eedom, and they paid .for our liberty with their

Please see DEFENSE OF FREEDOM Page32

This issue mailed October 9.

0659600022624I # 120803 ldDCH ~

HILLI~H G BRUNLER 88 ~BB{HGTOH RUE

BUFFRLO HY ~ 4223-1662