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| A Gun Park of the 6-inch Guns. | A 6-inch gun being transported on a rail car. |
We Don't Make Much Money
We don't make much money, but we have a lot of fun,
Been over in France four months, and haven't shot a gun,
We came to put the dirty Germans on the run,
But before we got a chance the old war was done.
We drill all day and take a lot of hikes.
Down some road and up turnpikes.
Gas mask drill fills us all with dread,
When we take the damn things off, we feel nearly dead.
Drenched by rain, tanned by the sun,
We don't make much money, but we have a lot of fun.
There was a lot of talk, we were going to have a chance,
Old Dame Rumor said, we were going to the range,
But instead of moving down to Souge,
We all went out and took Vin Rouge,
Cognac fell and so did Rum.
We don't make much money, but we have a lot of fun.
And so it will be until we get back home,
Safe across the ocean with its billowy foam,
It was all in a lifetime, and now that our task is done,
Maybe we didn't get much money, but we had a Hell of a lot of fun.
Captain Patterson, Battery "B", 62nd Artillery, C.A.C.
The 62nd Artillery was formed out of men from the Coast Defenses of San Francisco, California in January, 1918, Headquartered at Fort Winfield Scott, California. In June, 1918 the regiment was moved to Camp Mills, New York, and sailed from Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey in July, 1918 aboard the HMS Baltic for England and then on to France. While in France the regiment together with the 60th and 61st Regiments formed the 33rd Brigade and trained at O & T Center No. 1 (Operations and Training) at Libourne, France. Only the 60th Regiment saw action at the front with the 155mm French G. P. F. Guns. The 61st and 62nd used the 6-inch mobile mount guns that had been removed from the Coast Defenses in the United States. The Regiment embarked on the USS Pocahontas at Bordeaux, France and returned to Newport News, VA on February 27, 1919 and went to Camp Stuart, Virginia for a short time. In March, 1919 at Camp Eustis, Virginia the regiment was demobilized.
When a series of W. D. and A. G. O. and other orders culminated in the organization of the 62nd Artillery C.A.C., San Francisco, elevated its chest another notch and was sure the war was as good as won, for practically all the men assigned to the organization were drawn from the garrisons of the Coast Defenses of San Francisco, either National Guard or Regular Army, and the National Army men had spent sufficient time in the Second Provisional Training Regiment to seem like Native Sons. Followed preparation for Foreign Service. Colonel John P. Haines had mapped out an excellent course of instruction. But most to be remembered were the parades, which brought laudations upon the regiment, but attached to it the classic name of "Market Street Artillery".
Allied stock was low when the organization swung down Market Street for the last time on June 13th, 1918, and many felt that it would not be long until the boys would be bombing of the Hun with High Explosive. Across the States, during the wait at Camp Mills, and while the "Baltic" was dodging the U-boats on the Atlantic, enthusiasm was high. Not even the miniature ration at Knotty Ash, the hike under heavy packs at Romsey, and the horrors of the Channel passage in rough weather, killed the pep. And the certainty of service soon was strengthened by the bombing party, which Fritz carried out the first night on French soil at Le Havre. Fragments of anti-aircraft projectiles and bombs skittering among the tents only served to prove the high morals of the man for there was no panic.
Had it not been for the thrill, which this slight episode gave to the Regimental Chaplain, Father John P. McQuade, it might have been forgotten. But Father John was a volunteer correspondence for a Golden Gate daily, and gave the regiment a bit of press-agenting, which added a thrill to the joy of living in France, but made it difficult for the boys to live up to their reputations. For the journey to and bill lifting of the First Battalion at St. Emilion near Bordeaux, and the establishment of Second Battalion at St. Laurent des Combes, and of the Third at Montagne, villages nearby, were very prosaic.
Had the regiment been more fortunate in its assignment of guns, it might have helped make history in the last weeks of the war. But the 6-inch seacoast gun on the mobile mount was a new weapon, which had to be trained in French methods and acclimated to French mud. It had little regard for the range tables and less for the feelings of a Second Lieutenant trying to convoy along a muddy road. But even with all these difficulties the regiment was ready to go on the range at Souge when the Armistice stuff was pulled off. Rumors had been thick enough during the weeks of training, but during the two months before the regiment started back home they assumed the proportions of the last days of an O. T. C. (operations and training center).
St. Emilion was French. One of those places that runs to history and caves and vineyards. Built on a horseshoe shaped hill and in the enclose Valley and with remnants of the old Wall and the moat. It took a while to wake people up, but before the regiment left the girls were one stepping in the old ladies were efficient chaperones, while it was rumored that the communal Council had incorporated a Thursday Night Poker Club. If few of the men plucked off the prize village Queens as household managers, and one or two obtained discharges and remained in France. St. Laurent and Montagne were miniature editions, but though practically the entire organization appreciated highly the good qualities of the people, they were ready to start back home when the time came.
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| A Gun Park of the 6-inch Guns. | A 6-inch gun being transported on a rail car. |
Colonel William A. Covington assumed command of the regiment on the day of departure from St. Emilion, Colonel Haines, who was transferred to "that so dear Paris". C. A. C. had stood for Coast Artillery Corps in all the years before the war, but when the 62nd arrived at the embarkation camp and at Genicourt, near Bordeaux, one of the brilliant ones discovered that actual interpretation was quite different. After 16 days of camp fatigue it was plain that "Clean All Camps" was to the point. Miles of sidewalk, tons of gravel and barrels of refuse were labored with but finally the U.S.S. Pocahontas showed up, and after bucking westerly winds for 14 days landed the regiment at Newport News. After a few days at Camp Stuart, the outfit moved to Camp Eustis, where the company clerks and personnel officers prove their ability by losing all the regiment except some hundred regulars.
The 62nd had numerous companion regiments in misfortune, who were so unfortunate as not to have reached the front. All these outfits were equally representative of the high standard of American manhood and military capability, but those two have been with the 62nd feel that it's esprit de corps and the adaptability which was displayed it in the training and movements indicate that it's hundred percent preparation for the front when the Armistice was signed would have been followed by hundred percent efficiency, had the organization got a chance at the Boche.
Written by a member of the 62nd Artillery, C.A.C.
I've just received a line, from an old pal of mine,
He never saw the "Rhine"
But he said the bunch is fine.
They want to fight for you and me,
The "Market Street Artillery"
All have made a hit with
Each Dame that speaks French.
They all have done their bit
Though they never saw a Trench
And the people in San Francisco
Will be proud of their boys, I know.
If you have a family member who served in the 62d Artillery, please email me and I will list them here in this section.
Roy was the son of W. C. Keep of Elmcreek, Nebraska and entered the Army at Coleridge, Nebraska on 25 April 1917. He was assigned to the Coast Defenses of San Francisco and when the 62d Artillery was fromed was assigned to Battery E, 62d Artillery. Pvt. Keep was discharged 11 March 1919.
Walter Edwin Smith was born on August 19, 1898 and was from California. Walter Smith was in Battery C of the 62nd Artillery, C. A. C. during World War One. Smith passed away on November 19, 1955 and was buried in the Liberty Veterans Cemetery in Fresno, California.
The grave stone of PFC Smith located in the Liberty Veterans Cemetery, Fresno, California.
Frank Harold Overton served in Battery D of the 62nd Artillery CAC during WWI. Frank was inducted in the Army on August 5, 1917 in San Francisco, California at Fort Winfield. As a member of Battery D, 62nd Artillery C.A.C. Pvt. Overton was stationed in St. Laurent and Libourne, France. Pvt. Overton was discharged on March 18, 1919 at The Presidio in San Francisco, California. Frank Harold Overton was born in Pueblo, Colorado on October 20, 1893, and passed away in Glendale, CA on August 5, 1975.
Private Frank H. Overton on the left, unidentified soldier on the right.
Anton L. Knutson was selected at Moorhead, Minnesota and was inducted into the army on December 17, 1917 at Moorhead, MN by the Local Board, Clay County MN. He was assigned to the 35th Co. Coast Defenses of San Francisco, at Ft. Winfield Scott, California on December 22, 1917. Was then transferred to Battery D, 62nd C.A.C. on February 11, 1918. Pvt. Knutson wasHonorably discharged on March 11, 1919.
Pvt. Knutson left the States for overseas duty on July 14, 1918. Arrived in England July 26, 1918. Arrived in France July 31, 1918. Left France Feb 6, 1919. Arrived U.S. Feb 19, 1919.
William L. BouzerÕs Gravestone in the Golden Gate National Cemetery
In the Golden Gate National Cemetery in Section M, Grave Number 446 there is a white marble military headstone with the name of William L. Bouzer engraved into it. The stone has chipped edges likely from the constant mowing of the grass and shows signs of aging but it stands there silently marking the spot where a soldier is buried The stone also says ÒCalifornia PFC Battery D 62nd Artillery CAC November 29, 1892 - November 22, 1951Ó
But who was this veteran who lies buried quietly beneath this stone? What story can this silent stone tell us of his life? The answer begins on the small Southern Pacific Island of Tahiti. On November 29, 1892 in the capital city of Papeete, Tahiti, Charles-Auguste Bouzer a French citizen and his wife Turia Vahirua a Terorotua, who was a native Tahitian, have a baby boy that they named Henri Tefau Tari Louis Bouzer, who was the fourth of seven children.
Henri grew up and was raised on the island of Tahiti with his mother and father and six other siblings. The Bouzer family changed on March 24, 1905 when HenriÕs father Charles-Auguste passed away. Now Turia was left to raise the 7 children alone in Tahiti. When Henri was 20-years old, he felt the need for a different place to live other than the island of Tahiti. And so in late October 1912 Henri Tefau Tari Louis Bouzer took passage aboard the RMS Tahiti, a 5,585-ton steamship ran by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, bound for America. The Tahiti was then employed on the Sydney, Australia to San Francisco, California route, making stops at Wellington, New Zealand, Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, and Papeete, Tahiti before making port at San Francisco. When the Tahiti did make port in San Francisco in November of 1912, Henri Tefau Tari Louis Bouzer who was then just 20-years old set foot on American soil for the first time.
When Henri began his life in America he Americanized his name and was now going by the name of William Louis Bouzer. It would not be until June 11, 1918, while serving in the United States Army, that William L. Bouzer would gain his American Citizenship.
William worked as a merchant from 1912 through the beginning of the First World War in the San Francisco, California area. On April 27, 1917, twenty-one days after America entered the war, William Louis Bouzer enlisted into the United States Army. Bouzer was assigned to the ArmyÕs Coast Artillery Corps, and likely was assigned to one of the several Coast Artillery Companies in the San Francisco Coast Defenses. William Louis and two of his other brothers all served in the military during WWI. Only William was in the American Army, his other brothers served in the French Army. His older brother Charles Louis Natuaevaru Bouzer was Killed In Action on December 25, 1916 in the Salonika front while serving in northern Greece, and younger brother Henri-Frederic was accidentally killed while riding aboard a troop train. Being the train was crowded Henri-Frederic decided to ride on the roof of the train car and was struck in the head while the train was entering a tunnel as the train was traveling in the Rhone-Alpes region of France. Henri-Frederic was knocked off the car and was taken to an aid station near Lyon, France in serious condition where he died of his injuries in August of 1917.
By January of 1918 there was a new Coast Artillery Regiment being formed from men within the Coast defenses of San Francisco. This Regiment was the 62nd Artillery and would be sent over to France. The 62nd was organized at Fort Winfield Scott, California, and it was in June of 1918 that Private First Class Willian L. Bouzer, who was a member of Battery D, 62nd Artillery was transported across the country to Hoboken, New Jersey where they awaited a ship that would take them to England and then on to France. In July of 1918 PFC Bouzer boarded the HMS Baltic and sailed Across the Atlantic to England.
PFC Bouzer served throughout the war with Battery D of the 62nd Artillery. The Regiment was undergoing training and was about to go onto the line in combat when the war ended in November of 1918. On February 27, 1919 the entire 62nd Artillery boarded the USS Pocahontas in Bordeaux, France and landed in America in early March 1919. PFC William L. Bouzer was honorably discharged from the Army on March 15, 1919.
William L. Bouzer returned back to San Francisco, California to pick up his life where he left it nearly two-years before. On August 25, 1919 Bouzer applied for a United States Passport for the intent purpose of traveling to Tahiti to visit and attend to his mother who was then ill. William Bouzer was going to sail aboard the steamship Tafufua from San Francisco on October 2, 1919 and would return to the States within 6-months, according to his passport.
It is not known how long William stayed in Tahiti, and it is known that his mother Turia had passed away on August 2, 1920, so he may have spent a year in Tahiti with his mother until she passed on.
Once Bouzer did return from Tahiti he lived again in the San Francisco area. Sometime likely between the death of his mother in August of 1920 and 1922 William L. Bouzer married. His wifeÕs name was Adeline Poncet who was born about 1892 in California. William and Adeline had one son they named William, Jr. who was born on October 15, 1923 in San Francisco.
By 1940 the Bouzer family was living at 1295 Noe Street in San Francisco where William was supporting his family by working as a carpenter for the WPA. William and Adeline would live in San Francisco and San Mateo, California until William passed away. William was until his death a member of the VFW Post 120 in San Mateo.
On November 22, 1951 in San Mateo, California William Louis Bouzer passed away of a heart attack, and on November 26 was buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery, Section M, Grave 446. It was on April 10, 1952 that William BouzerÕs white marble headstone was delivered from Columbus, Mississippi to the Golden Gate Cemetery, and was placed on his grave forever marking his resting place.
U. S. Passport photo of William Louis Bouzer
Taken on August 25, 1919
He stood 5-feet, 11-inches tall with blue eyes and dark brown hair.
Charles Alexander Fertig was born on November 21, 1893 to Emma Olsen and David Fertig in Kennedy, Kittson Coounty, Minnesota. At the age of 23 Charles Fertig registered for the first call up of the Federal Draft on June 5, 1917. At the time Charles was farming for his father David Fertig. Charles at the time was a tall, medium built youn man with brown eyes and dark brown hair, and was single. It would not be until December 17, 1917 that Charles entered the army. Private Charles A. Fertig was placed into the Coast Artillery Corps of the Army and as the 62nd Artillery, CAC was formed for duty in France, Pvt. Fertig was placed into Battery D of the 62nd Artillery.
On July 14, 1918 the SS Baltic sailed with the 62nd Artillery for France. Aboard the Baltic on the passenger list Pvt. Fertig listed his brother Lawrence Fertig as his person to contact in case of an emergency. Pvt. Fertig served through out the war with Battery D and did not see combat on the front lines as the 62nd Artillery was undergoing its training when the war ended. During the time the 62nd was serving in France Pvt. Fertig was advanced in grade to Wagoner. This duties of Wagoner's were to drive trucks that hauled the guns and or haulled the ammunition and other equipment of the regiment. Once the war ended the 62nd was to return back home and on February 6, 1919 the 62nd Artillery was boarded on the USS Pocohontas for transportation back to the States. Wag. Fertig listed his mother, Emma, on the return trip as his person to contact in case of an emergency.
After the war Charles Fertig went back home and would later be married and he and his wife Agnes would at the time of his death live in Shelby, Montana. His last job listed on his death certificate was a Scaleman, likely running a scale at a mine or possibly a gravel pit, but much of his life he was a truck driver. On July 17, 1964 at the Veterans Hospital at Fort Harrison, Montana Charles Alexander Fertig passed away. He was burried in the Shelby Cemetery, Shelby, Montana.
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Charles A. Fertig |
Matt Nick Moilan was born in Mesaba, Minnesota on November 26, 1891. At age 26 he registered for the Draft during WWI in the first call-up on June 4, 1917. At the time he was single and lived in Cusson, Minnesota. This was located in St. Louis County which was along the Minnesota-Canada border, near Rainy Lake. Moilan was a tall man standing 5-feet eight-inches and had blue eyes and blonde hair. He was then working as a railway breakman likely for the Duluth, Virginia & Rainy Lake Railway. By December 17, 1917 Molian had enlisted into the army aerving in the Coast Artillery Corps. When the 62nd Artillery CAC was formed for duty in France Pvt. Moilan was transfered into Battery C of the 62nd Artillery.
On July 14, 1918, Pvt. Matt Moilan went aboard the USS Baltic with the 62nd Artillery and steamed eastward to Europe. Aboard the Baltic, Moilan listed his brother Andrew of 118 Third Street in Virginia, Minnesota as his person to cntact in case of an emergency. While in France with the 62nd Artillery Pvt. Moilan did not see any combat on the front lines as the 62nd never was trained fully trained before the war ended. It was on February 6, 1919 that the 62nd Artillery CAC went aboard the USS Pochontas in Bordeaux, France for the trip back home and New York City. Pvt. Moilan was honorably Discharded from Active Duty on March 11, 1919.
He returned back home to Minnesota, marrying a woman named Olga and worked as a fireman for the city of Gilbert, Minnesota, where they lived at 112 Iowa Ave. in Gilbert. Matt Nick Moilan would pass away on May 5, 1960, and was burried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Virginia, Minnesota. His wife Olga signed the paperwork to have a granite military gravestone placed upon his grave.
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Gravestone of Matt Nick Moilan |
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