THE LOST BATTALION
MAJOR CHARLES WHITTLESEY
MAJOR CHARLES WHITTLESEY Commander of Lost Battalion NY Lawyer Opposes Argonne battle plan Leads men into Charleveux Mill Sends men to find flanks
GENERAL ALEXANDER
GENERAL ALEXANDER Overall battle commander of US forces; devises plan for attack orders troops to advance Orders retreat (too late) Shocked by Whittlesey Orders artillery attack (friendly fire)
CAPTAIN GEORGE McMURTRY 2nd in command of 308th Career soldier/ “tough guy” Irish-American
SGT. GAEDEKE
SGT. GAEDEKE Immediately in charge of new recruits Gets them settled on front lines Goes to find French on flanks… no one there Blown up by friendly fire (dead)
COLONEL JOHNSON Assistant to General Alexander Worries about hurrying into battle Orders cease fire for artillery
PRIVATE KROTOSHINSKY NY boy (Polish immigrant) New recruit Took the “test” Volunteers to “run” message out
Privates Rosen & Cepeglia
Privates Rosen & Cepeglia NY boys Give advice to new recruits Rosen= Jewish Cepeglia= Italian Best friends Cepeglia dies
PRIVATE STANLEY CHIN Chinese-American Radio operator Wire “short”; waits in bush Communication lines cut Refuses to retreat killed
PRIVATE LIPASTI
PRIVATE LIPASTI NY boy New recruit Becomes runner for McMurtry Finds Chin dead Finds Holderman (307th) “indoor aviator”
PRIVATE YODER
PRIVATE YODER
PRIVATE YODER “appleknocker” New recruit Big Fork, Montana (“Daisyville”) Kills sniper Killed by grenade
PRIVATE OMER RICHARDS Handles pigeons Sends messages to HQ Last pigeon (Cher Ami) used to stop artillery
PVT. CEPEGLIA
LT. Leak
LIEUTENANT LEAK Texas Assigned to NY regiment Thinks he does not belong Yelled at by Whittlesey for his dress, shaving, etc. Captured Explains why US will never surrender (inner-city thugs)
MAJOR HENRICH PRINZ Commander of German forces opposing “Lost” battalion Respects Americans Requests Stosstrupen
CAPTAIN NELSON HOLDERMAN
CAPTAIN NELSON HOLDERMAN 307th officer from CALIFORNIA Lost in Argonne forest Found by Lipasti Links up with Whittlesey
CAPTAIN NELSON HOLDERMAN
CHER AMI