WWI - Ernest Hugo Freeburg 1918-1919

^{Ernest Hugo Freeburg, a Swedish
citizen working as a laborer, enlisted in the United States Army on May
20, 1918, to serve in World War I. He was assigned
to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment.

July 27, 1918 the 14th was officially assigned to the newly forming 19th
Infantry Division. On August 14, 1918, Omar
N. Bradley, commanding officer of F Company of the 14th
Infantry, received news that he was promoted to the rank of
major and given command of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment.

By mid September, the 14th Regiment including the 1st Battalion received
orders to report to Camp Dodge in Iowa. The
regiment was to be the cadre (nucleus) for the 19th Division which was
destined for the front in France. The regiment
arrived at Camp Dodge on September 25 to merge with other units assigned
to the 19th Division.

In early October of 1918, the division went into a period of intense
training coached by officers who had recently returned from combat in
France. Within the next two weeks, a deadly strain
of influenza broke out at the camp. It became
known throughout the country as the Spanish flu and is claimed to be
responsible for taking over 50 million lives worldwide. The
flu decimated the regiment and curtailed their training schedule.

In early November, rumored peace overtures from Kaiser
Wilhelm II indicated that the war would soon be over. At
the eleventh minute of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, November
11, 1918 became Armistice Day.
Click documents to enlarge...}

^{Ernest Hugo Freeburg
of F Company, 2nd Battalion, with other foreign nationals who were members
of the 14th Infantry Regiment, was invited to take American citizenship.
On November 11, 1918, my grandfather renounced his
allegiance to the King of Sweden and became a citizen of the United States
of America.

By early December the 3.6 million man U.S. Army rapidly demobilized.
On December 11, the 19th Infantry Division with
the 14th Infantry was ordered to Camp Grant near Rockford, Illinois for
garrison duty. They were given the task of closing
the camp and taking custody of the government property. Demobilization
of the 19th Division started January 23, 1919. All
units not belonging to the Regular Army were deactivated. The
14th was formally relieved from assignment to the 19th Division on
February 14, 1919.

Major Omar Bradley left the 14th Infantry Regiment on
August 25, 1919. Bradley was reduced to peacetime
rank of Captain and assigned to South Dakota State College to teach
political science. He went on to become a
Five Star General of the Army, outranked only by the
commander-in-chief. Omar Nelson Bradley
died in April, 1981 at the age of 88 years
and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Ernest Hugo Freeburg, Private, F Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry,
separated from the U.S. Army on June 13, 1919 and
returned to civilian life. He died
in May, 1984 at the age of 88 years. Some
say gramps lived on to match the years of his hero and former commander as
a matter of respect.

Gramps and Omar Bradley received the same award for their war service: The
World War I Victory Medal with no battle bars.}