During the centennial of World War 1, this page periodically remembers American servicemen who gave their lives in that war.

Chester A. “Chesty” Tongen of Zumbrota, Minnesota, was a 1916 graduate of the University of Minnesota, with a degree in pharmacy.  At the University, he was a member of the Scandinavian Literary Society and the Hope Lutheran Society.

He started at the University’s College of Pharmacy in 1912, and his campus address that year is listed in a University Directory as 1609 SE 4th Street, Minneapolis, which currently houses a University parking ramp. He was the son of Andrew H. and Anna M. Tongen and had previously studied at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.  He was a member of Holden Lutheran Church of Kenyon, Minnesota.

Despite his education, the Great War saw him as a Private. He is listed as having died of disease. I was unable to find any grave for Private Tongen at any of the American cemeteries in Europe, which I suspect means that he died of disease after induction but while still stateside.

His college yearbook bears the quote, “I shall soon have a Norske Apotek all my own.” It was not to be.

The photo here is from Soldiers of the Great War, Volume 2, Page 113.

Melvin and Peter Myhre

Periodically, I use this page to remember some of the forgotten young American men who gave their lives in the First World War.  Private Melvin Myhre of Fosston, Minnesota, was killed in action on October 10, 1918, about a month before the armistice. He is buried in France with over 14,000 of his comarades at the at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.  He served in the U.S. Army, 327th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Division.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, in which Private Myhre gave his life, was the largest battle in U.S. history, and involved 1.2 million American soldiers. Over 26,000, including Private Myhre, were killed. In addition, some 70,000 French soldiers were killed, as were between 90,000 and 120,000 Germans.

His brother, Private Peter Myhre, also died in France on November 1, 1918, only ten days before the Armistice. He is buried at the St. Mihiel American Cemetery, along with over 4000 American soldiers.

According to Polk County Minnesota in the World War, Melvin and Peter were sons of Mr. and Mrs. Mikkel Myhre.  Melvin entered service on March 2, 1918. Peter entered the service on July 26 and was taken sick about October 15 behind the front near Clermont Woods. He died at the Mesves hospital.

Their pictures shown here, are from the three-volume Soldiers of the Great War (Vol. 2, p. 99).

Nurses at U.S. Army Hospital, Mesves, France. (Nat’l Institutes of Health photo).

Private Albert Tony Sturgleski, Killed in Action, 1918.

On this page, I’ll periodically include some information about some of the forgotten young American men who lost their lives in the First World War. All of them are listed, many with a photograph, in a three-volume set entitled Soldiers of the Great War.

Among them was Private Albert Tony Sturgleski of Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota. His death was noted in the November 21, 1918, issue of the Askov (Minn.) American.

I was unable to locate Private Sturgleski’s grave or next of kin. He is not listed in the databases of the Deparment of Veterans Affairs or the American Battle Monuments Commission.

St. Isidore’s Catholic Cemetery in Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota, is the final resting place of John T. Sturgeleski  (1857-1939) and Mary Sturgeleski (1870-1951). Despite the slightly different spelling of the last name, it seems likely that these were Albert’s relatives, quite likely his parents.

All I know for certain, almost a century later, is that Albert was an American boy, born around the turn of the last century, who answered his country’s call and went to war.  He probably never went to college, never married, never had a trade or profession, and never had children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren.  He was just a young man sent by older men to war started by even older men on another continent.