NATIONAL GUARD UNAFRAID OF BATTLE WHEN CALLED

The blazon of Cape Girardeau's Missouri National Guard Engineer Brigade, 35th Infantry Division carries battle honors for the bloody Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I.

Mustered into state service in Cape Girardeau under the command of Capt. Ray Seitz in June 1917, what would become the administrative element of the brigade was originally designated Headquarters Company, 6th Missouri Infantry.

In August 1917, the headquarters company was drafted into federal service to fight in the first World War. At Camp Clark in Nevada, Mo., the headquarters company united with the other companies of the 6th Missouri Regiment -- the first such reunion since the regiment had dispersed after the Spanish-American War. At Camp Clark, the guardsmen of the headquarters company were first issued uniforms and weapons.

After a brief layover in England, the 6th Missouri arrived in France by ferry boat in May 1918 as a consolidated regiment with the 3rd Missouri (Kansas City) -- forming the 140th U.S. Infantry Regiment, under the 35th Division (Kansas-Missouri).

For five successive days in Sept. 1918, the four regiments of the 35th Division drove straight ahead into heavily fortified German positions as part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Over these five days, the division advanced seven miles -- primarily without air cover or flank support -- and captured more than 1,000 prisoners.

According to Guard records, Headquarters Company performed admirably in the Meuse-Argonne, maintaining a command structure despite Capt. Seitz being incapacitated by poison gas on the second day of the offensive.

The 140th Regiment paid a high price for the advance, between 50 and 70 percent casualties -- more than 340 men killed and some 1,520 men wounded.