A new comic book published by the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) tells the heroic, and tragic, story of Medal of Honor recipient Charles Whittlesey, the commander of the famed "lost battalion" in World War I.
Earning a law degree for Harvard in 1908, Whittlesey opened a law firm in New York City with some of his former classmates but when the United States become ensnared by the First World War, Whittlesey joined up as an officer.
The comic book, penned by industry veteran Chuck Dixon, with art by other comic book insiders such as Karl Moline (who recently passed away), and Pete Pantazis offers a dramatic retelling of the events that led to Whittlesey receiving the Medal of Honor.
As a battalion commander in the 77th Division, Whittlesey led his men towards the enemy in the Meuse-Argonne region. With 554 soldiers, the battalion moved through a ravine to dig in and establish fighting positions. Adjacent units to Whittlesey's battalion failed to take up their positions in the night and the American soldiers suddenly became the "lost battalion" cut off from their supply lines and surrounded by the Germans.
For five days, Whittlesey led his men and kept them motivated through wave after wave of German offensives that attempted to dislodge the Americans from their positions. On the last day, the Germans sent forward a POW with a note requesting he surrender, but Whittlesey correctly surmised that the Germans were now desperate and unable to take their position by force. The next day, American reinforcements arrived and relieved the "lost battalion."
Whittlesey was awarded the Medal of Honor on Dec. 24, 1918.
Sadly, Whittlesey carried unseen scars from the war. He struggled with what he had to ask his men to do in combat and the fallout the war had on them later on. In November of 1921, Whittlesey boarded a ship bound for Cuba and threw himself over the side in the dead of night. Suicide notes to his family were later found in his cabin.
Whittlesey's heroism is celebrated in the latest issue of the Medal of Honor comic book series, and is available for free on the AUSA website.