Remembering medals sent to local soldiers in WWI

• In 1917, Licking County residents raised money to make medals for local soldiers fighting in WWI.
• The fundraising was spearheaded by The Advocate.
• The library is hoping to find more of these rare medals and learn about the soldiers who wore them.

NEWARK – Patricia Seward knew her stepgrandfather William Bedell was proud of every medal he earned in World War I.

But she remembers him talking about a specific honor — a gold circle that said “presented by the people of Licking County” on one side and “make the world safe for democracy” on the other.

“He talked about, how it wasn’t the (military) that gave it to him, that it came from local people,” she said.

It would take Seward years before she found out the whole story behind that medal.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917 and Ohio men began going off to war, the staff at The Advocate decided to do something special for Licking County soldiers.

The newspaper launched a campaign to provide each local soldier with a medal to wear while fighting overseas. Bedell, originally from Alexandria, brought his to France where he was a cook for the 166th Infantry.

He died in 1965 and Seward inherited his medals from her father after his death several years ago. She decided to donate all his medals to The Works where they could be preserved for future generations.

“Most of the people who served are gone and I think it’s sad that they’ll soon be forgotten,” she said. “We should honor all our veterans, they’ve done us a great service.”

Bedell’s medal was recently included in The Work’s recent WWI exhibit in January. Doug Stout, head of circulation and building services at the Licking County Library, also has a medal that he purchased online.

But Stout is convinced there are many other medals out there, and some of them may still be in Licking County.

“I want to get the word out, I want people to know what they’ve got,” he said. “I’d like to see how many survived.”

In May of 1917, The Advocate started the Licking County Soldiers Identification Badge Fund and asked county residents to make donations.

“It behooves us to do all we can to encourage and help the young men who go forth to defend the flag,” staff members wrote on May 23, 1917. “It seems to us that every Licking County man who enters the service of the United States should be presented with a suitable badge and these badges should be prepared and ready for distribution when the men enter the service.”

Anyone who contributed had their name printed in the paper, with the promise that any extra money would be donated to the Red Cross.

“The contributions range from 10 cents to $5,” according to an article dated June 5, 1917. “The majority of (them) are gifts of 50, 25 or 10 cents.”

Their goal was 750 medals, which cost $567.49 to create and engrave with each soldier’s name, according to an article from Sept. 17, 1917. More than 1,400 people contributed.

Many of the soldiers were so grateful to receive their medals that they wrote letters to the editor, which were published in the paper, said Craig Montgomery, museum history director at The Works.

“It just meant so much to them that they were in the hearts and minds of folks back home,” he said.

Some of them wrote about how their fellow soldiers were jealous and wished they were from Licking County, Stout said.

Many of the soldiers probably went through combat wearing the medals, Stout said.

“It’s more special that they actually carried them during (the battles),” he said.

Stout, who organizes the library’s Heroes Project, wants to educate more people about the medals so they don’t sell them online or throw them away.

Anyone with a medal is encouraged to contact the library and share any information they know about their relative. Stout will incorporate it into the library’s veterans database.

Licking County should be proud that its citizens supported their troops in such a big way, Montgomery said.

“You have to put yourself in 1917, these guys weren’t in communication with anyone (from home) for a very long time,” he said. “When something shows up that says, ‘The county has not forgotten you,’ it meant a great deal.”

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries

Do you have a medal?

The Licking County Library is looking for information about how many medals still exist and wants to find out more about the soldiers who carried them. Anyone who has one or would like to learn more about them can contact Doug Stout at dstout@lickingcountylibrary.info or 740-349-5571.

Joseph Plaine

“Editor of The Advocate:

I wish to thank the people of Licking County for the medal which was presented to me a month back while at the Newport training station. I have been on this ship close on to four weeks and have been to sea once, that being about two weeks ago...As yet I haven’t heard the big 14 inch guns burst forth with their cry for democracy but the time is soon coming that I will.

Joseph W. Plaine, U.S.S. Arizona ”

John Gilbert

“Editor of the Advocate:

It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge receipt of the medal you sent me. A remembrance coming from such source has a lasting worth for it kindles in one recollections and fond memories of old Newark, a word synonymous with true friendship. There seems to be a silent message contained on this medal, a word of encouragement and an impetus to further activity. It inspires one to willingly endure the hardships incumbent on camp life and to undergo with pleasure the strict discipline of military training...It keeps before one’s mind our one great aim, namely the endeavor to make democracy safe for the world...Thanking you for your kind favor and sending my regards and best wishes to all my Newark friends...

John B. Gilbert, 461st Aero Squadron”

Paul Mossman

“Editor of the Advocate:

Many thanks for the medal. They are very appropriate and are admired by all who see them.

Paul Mossman, Camp Sherman”

E. Gray Swingle

“Editor of The Advocate:

...Realizing my inability to properly convey to you my pride of the medal so generously presented by the people of the county of Licking, through the efforts of my home paper, I can only present my humble thanks...Licking County, the queen of the land, has decorated her sons with favors which shall urge them to more glorious deeds and more valorous actions.

Gray Swingle, Co. B, 6th Engineers”

Carl Webster Green

“Editor of The Advocate:

Just a few lines to let you know I am in the southland just a week, feeling fine. Conditions much different than in the north...Will you please send me a medal?

Carl W. Green, Batt-Ninth Ohio, Camp Sheridan.