2LT ERWIN RUSSELL BLECKLEY
	On June 6, 1917, 22-year-old Erwin Russell Bleckley, a bank teller with the 4th National Bank of Wichita, rushed down to enlist as a private in Battery F, First Field Artillery, Kansas National Guard. He was the second man to enlist according to Col. Bruce Griffith, unit commander, who organized the unit for World War I. One month later, July 5, 1917, he was discharged honorably and commissioned as a second lieutenant in Field Artillery upon the recommendation of Griffith. A month later, August 5, 1917, his unit was drafted by the President of the United States to report for active duty in World War I. The units first destination on the way to war was at Camp Doniphan, Fort Sill, Okla., where it was reorganized into the 130th Field Artillery Regiment, (the parent unit of the 2nd Battalion, 130th Field Artillery of the Kansas Army National Guard) as part of the 35th Infantry Division. On his 23rd birthday, Bleckley's unit was preparing for the overseas journey that would take him to France. While in Wichita, Bleckley wanted to become an aviator according to Dr. Joseph Gross, a National Guard historian. However, his family objected and he became an artilleryman. When he arrived in France, the Army, which had begun using airplanes for military service, asked for volunteers for forward observation duty with the Air Service. He volunteered immediately and began his aviation career in 1918 attached to the 50th Aero Squadron, Army Air Service. The Army Air Service was the forerunner of the Army Air Corps which later became the Air Force. On October 6, 1918, his plane was shot down by German machine-gun fire while attempting to deliver supplies to the "Lost Battalion" of the 77th Division. The unit got trapped behind enemy lines and cut off from supplies for five days. The Wichita Biography by James M. Richardson indicated that the lost soldiers were located in a space 350 yards long and 50 yards wide and even though the battalion was only one mile from the front lines, they had been completely surrounded by the Germans. According to an article in The Wichita Eagle on March 4, 1923, 2LT Bleckley volunteered to carry rations to the unit. He had completed one trip with the pilot, 1st Lt. Harold Goettler, in a borrowed plane earlier in the day and landed with numerous holes in the plane which they repaired. His commander warned them the second try would be exceedingly more difficult and hazardous. Bleckley replied, "We'll make the delivery or die in the atempt!" In another Wichita history book, Bear Grease Builders and Bandits by Beccy Tanner (1991), eyewitnesses described the pairs heroics: "Goettler skidded his plane, he made turns, he side-slipped a little occasionally, he climbed and then dived. Each time the plane turned and its great mottled belly flopped back into normal position, the men of the lost battalion expected to see it tumble from the sky... But on its way it went like a charmed thing, roaring up and down and across, rocked occasionally by the ash of big shells that had just passed... the plane finally crashed into the French terrain." They were flying so low they were just clearing tree tops to drop bundles of chocolate, cigarettes and medical supplies in that area 350 by 50 yards. Unfortunately, a great deal of the supplies fell into enemy hands and enemy stomachs. An enemy bullet killed Goettler at the controls and when the plane crashed, Bleckley was mortally wounded and died before he could be taken to a hospital. Lt. D.P. Morse, Jr. of the 50th Aero Squadron Headquarters recommended both men for Distinguished Service Medals. The citation for the DSM presented to the Decoration Board read: "Erwin R. Bleckley, second lieutenant, 130th Field Artillery Observer, 50th Aero Squadron, Air Service. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Binarville, France, October 6, 1918. Lieutenant Bleckley with his pilot, First Lieutenant Harold E. Goettler, Air Service, left the airdome late in the afternoon on their second trip to drop supplies to a battalion of the 77th Division, which had been cut off by the enemy in the Argonne Forest. Having been subjected on the first trip to violent fire from the enemy, they attempted on the second trip to come still lower in order to get the packages even more precisely on the designated spot. In the course of his mission the plane was brought down by enemy fire and machine-gun fire from the ground, resulting in fatal wounds to Lieutenant Bleckley, who died before he could be taken to a hospital. In attempting and performing his mission Lieutenant Bleckley showed the highest possible contempt of personal danger, devotion to duty, couage and valor." The award was changed to the Congressional Medal of Honor by the Decoration Board in 1922. The next time you travel to Wichita you may find yourself on an obscure back street named Bleckley Drive, which has been named for Lt. Erwin R. Bleckley. It is a rememberance of him and other soldiers like Lt. Goettler who gave their lives for their fellow Americans in the first World War. You may also see a ship built for military service bearing the named Erwin R. Bleckley. In any case, you know the price that he paid for freedom. His brother, Clarence, said he wanted to join the Army after Bleckley went to war. But, the lieutenant wrote many letters home, telling his parents to keep their younger son home. Clarence stated that, "He knew that I couldn't get a commission, and he wrote how terrible conditions were for the soldiers." Clarence also told that the death of his brother, "... almost killed my father because he and my brother were very close... closer than he (father) and I were... they were more like pals than anything else. Dad played baseball and my brother used to go out and play catch with him. Dad died a few years after my brother was killed, and I think Erwin's death had something to do with it. Oh, he was so proud of him, but he just never could resign himself to the fact he wasn't ever coming home." The Bleckleys went to France a couple of years after the war with a group of Gold Star mothers. She saw her son's grave and came home with peace of mind. The family elected to leave his body in France, buried near the place he was killed. Biography by LTC Doug Jacobs, Kansas Army National Guard Summary Lieutenant Bleckley was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor and devotion to duty, while serving as a member of Battery F of the 130th Field Artillery, a federally mobilized unit of the Kansas Guard, attached to the 50th Aero Squadron. Bleckley, with his pilot, 1LT Harold E. Goettler, Air Service, left the airdrome late in the afternoon on their second trip to drop supplies to a battalion of the 77th Division, which had been cut off by the enemy in the Argonne Forest. Having been subjected on the first trip to violent fire from the enemy, they attempted on the second trip to come still lower in order to get the packages even more precisely on the designated spot. In the course of his mission the plane was brought down by enemy rifle and machinegun fire from the ground, resulting in fatal wounds to 2nd Lt. Bleckley, who died before he could be taken to a hospital. In attempting and performing this mission 2nd Lt. Bleckley showed the highest possible contempt of personal danger, devotion to duty, courage, and valor. Place and date. Near Binarville, France, October 6, 1918. Inducted: Wichita, Kansas. Born: Wichita, Kansas. G.O.#56, W.D, 1922.