Chapter 18
World War I
1917
In 1914, the public assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria sparked a series of events that lead to all-out warfare throughout Europe, becoming known as World War I. Initially, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire, unified against Russia, Great Britain, France, Italy and Serbia. The first battle of the war occurred on August 4, 1914. Over the next many years, more nations joined the fight on both sides; yet, despite numerous battles and huge loss of life, the war efforts became entrenched in a stalemate. The soldiers and citizens of Europe, and beyond, suffered as disease, supply shortages and starvation became commonplace. In 1917, the Russian people rose up and overthrew their czar, Nicholas II, assassinating his whole family, before declaring a truce with Germany, et al., in an effort to return to normal life.
Up to this point, the United States had remained neutral under President Woodrow Wilson, choosing to continue commerce with all nations. However, after German U-boats began targeting U. S. merchant ships, as well as, sinking the Lusitania with hundreds of American travelers to England onboard, the United States declared war on Germany on April 2, 1917. During the latter half of 1918, German allies began to fall, forcing Germany to surrender on November 11, 1918. At the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month, the fighting ended. The Great War officially came to a close on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. In all, over 9 million soldiers were killed on the battlefield, and 21 million were wounded. Civilian casualties measured in the millions. However, the main killer of WWI was the influenza outbreak that claimed over 50 million lives worldwide. With all the death, destruction and sorrow the world had endured, it was hoped that this was the ‘war to end all wars,’ however, such was not the case.
As the United States inched closer to war, the Shapard family of Fort Smith was trying to carry on life in the devastating aftermath of losing their newborn son. David distracted his broken heart by pouring his time and efforts into helping better his community through the organizations to which he belonged.
Interestingly, in 1915, the state of Arkansas had passed a prohibition law, banning the sale and manufacture of alcohol within its borders. In 1917, Arkansas became a completely ‘dry state’ when the importation of alcohol was also banned. This occurred two years before the passage of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that banned alcohol on a national level. Nine months after Arkansas passed its prohibition law, the repeal of said law was put to the vote of the people on the November 1916 ballot.
In response, David Shapard joined a newly organized Fort Smith camp of Gideons in an effort to perpetuate the statewide prohibition. The camp, organized by Mr. E. F. Edwards of Conway, elected Mr. T. P. Hacker as president and Mr. David E. Shapard was elected as chaplain. If the law were repealed, the state would be delivered into the hands of the whiskey interests, thus regressing the morals of the state of Arkansas where it was a half century ago. The camp made a public resolution, stating; “Whereas the nine month trial has proved the beneficial effects of statewide prohibition law, and clearly demonstrated that the only business it hurts is that of the saloon, which impoverishes and degrades; the law has a tendency to vacate our jails and country farms, to increase the earnings of legitimate business, to make labor more efficient and dependable, to bring happiness and plenty to homes that had before been pauperized by the saloon interests, and to lift our citizenship to a higher plane of self-respect…”
As a result of David’s honorable efforts and many more like him, the state of Arkansas was delivered, at least legally, from the evils, abuse and depravity of alcohol until the year 1933, when prohibition was repealed by a vote of the people. Nevertheless, each county in Arkansas retained the power to decide whether or not to repeal the law, of which about half remained ‘dry counties,’ even to the present day.
David also poured his efforts into bettering the United Commercial Travelers. He had been a member of Fort Smith U. C. T. Council No. 86 since 1909, and had showed his worth to the organization as a natural born leader over the years. In March of 1917, he was elected as the Secretary Treasurer, and served that position for the next seven years, until March of 1924. In April of 1917, David was also elected to the office of ‘The Chief of Guides’ for the Bagmen of Bagdad, being a sister organization of the U.C. T., of which he had joined in 1915.
After the U.S. entered WWI on April 6, 1917, the number of young men volunteering for military service fell significantly short of government expectations. In response, President Woodrow Wilson passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, “the draft,” for selecting and pressing men into military service. The first registration occurred on June 5, 1917, whereby, all men 21 to 31 years of age had to report to their local draft board where information was gathered on each man. Although over 23 million men were registered by the Selective Service, the majority were never called to serve. After June 5th, two more registrations occurred until the Selective Service was terminated in the summer of 1919, after the end of the war.
The day of the first registration, on June 5, 1917, thirty year-old David was questioned and examined at the Fort Smith Selective Service office. He listed that he was born at Eufaula, Oklahoma, on March 22, 1887. His present address was 1016 North 40th Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and he was employed as a traveling salesman for the Atkinson-Williams Hardware Company. He was married with one child. He listed that he had previous military experience for one year in the National Guard. Physically he was described as medium height, with a stout build, gray colored eyes, with brown hair and no disabilities.
Fort Smith was required by the War Department to furnish a quota of 104 men for service in the National Army of the United States. Due to the fact that many men would be exempted from service, 212 men were called for examination from the registration list. In mid-July, David was notified that he was selected as one of these men from Fort Smith subject to be drafted into the National Army of the United States. On July 20, 1917, his name was placed in a lottery held by at the Selective Service office in Washington D.C., whereby officials of the War Department drew names to determine in what order the men would be conscripted into service. As it came to pass, David E. Shapard was the 121st name drawn out of the 212 names from the Fort Smith pool. The first 71 men from the list were required to report to the Fort Smith Exemption Board on August 6th, for physical examination to determine if they were fit for combat. If fit for service they would immediately be drafted into the army and likely sent to France. The next 70 men, including David, were to report the following day, and the final 71 men to report on August 8th. A notice was mailed to David’s residence informing him of the time, date and location of his examination.
The following two months were very tense for the Shapard family. David was terribly distraught at the thought of leaving his family, as he was the sole provider for his wife and four year-old son. In the midst of the very real possibility of being sent overseas, David and Elise decided to conserve as much income as possible. On August 1, 1917, they moved to a smaller more affordable rent house at 1108 North 15th Street in Fort Smith. In addition, David and Edwin’s brother Sumner arrived from Baltimore, and the three brothers counseled, at length, with one another over David’s situation and what could be done.
In an effort to thwart being sent overseas, David filed a claim for exemption with the board. However, in mid-August, he was notified that his claim was disallowed, and that his past training and experience in the Arkansas State Guard usurped his plea for exemption from conscription based on his status as a family man.
Not to be dissuaded, David immediately filed an appeal to the Fort Smith board. On August 29th, he was notified that President Wilson had instructed the Provost Marshal General Crowder at Washington D.C., for the local boards to be more lenient in handling the exemption claims of married men, and that, at present, the boards were now endeavoring to secure unmarried men without dependents. Therefore, his appeal was approved by the local board, however, the action by the board was not final, and that his case would be sent to the district board for a final verdict. It was not until September 27th, that David’s appeal went before the District Board of Western Arkansas, whereupon, he was officially, and gratefully, released from conscription in the National Army of the United States.
During the stressful month of June in 1917, about the time that David first received notice that he had been drafted, he was driving his car for business in the town of Alma, in Crawford County, Arkansas, north of Fort Smith, when he was involved in an accident with a mule. He was brought before the justice at the court at Alma and was convicted of ‘speeding with an automobile.’ The decision by the court included a hefty fine and possible jail time. David appealed the ruling to the Circuit Court, whereupon, he was acquitted by a jury of all charges.
Elise’s younger brother Hamilton decided to not to wait to be conscripted into service, but instead headed his country’s call and enlisted on his own. In addition to being a great patriot, an enticing benefit to enlisting early was that he could choose what branch of the service he would be joining. With his background, he enlisted in the Engineer & Forestry Corps. On June 4, 1917, William Hamilton Conger presented for examination to the Selective Service office where it was noted that he was 26 years of age, single and working for the Major Stave Company as the manager of one of their country mills in Ashdown, Arkansas. Physically, he was short in stature with a medium build. He had brown hair, brown eyes and no disabilities.
In December of 1917, he put down his job and picked up a rifle to answer the call of his country, and was stationed for training at Jefferson Barracks, at St. Louis, Missouri. Before leaving, he ventured home to Conway to spend time with his mother and father. The day he was to report for training, his mother sent him away with a smile. She did not go with him to the train station, for fear she would betray the broken heart she was trying to conceal. Hamilton had gained the love and friendship of all who knew him, and crowds of young folks were at the station to see him off. Shortly thereafter, he wrote a note to his mother, telling her to never fear for him the temptations of camp life. “I will never do anything that will make you ashamed of your boy,” and he pledged his life, his all, to his country’s cause.
In early January 1918, Hamilton wrote home, stating that he was sure of receiving his commission as an officer and that all was well. However, on Tuesday, January 8th, he became ill with pneumonia. Initially, his condition was not thought to be dangerous, until Sunday morning, when he was moved to the base hospital. A telegram was sent to his parents in time for them to leave Sunday afternoon for St. Louis, but on Sunday evening at 6:30 p. m. his pure soul returned to the God who gave it. He was conscious to the last, and several times during the day he wanted to talk, but his nurse had told him to save his breath for his parents and remembering this, the message unspoken died on his lips. There was no mother’s hand to sooth his fevered brow, but the nurse said he was the most patient man she had ever nursed.
He was a Mason and Knight Templar. A fellow Mason soldier, who had help nurse him and had learn to love him, asked him in the last hours of his life if there was anything he wanted. Hamilton motioned under his pillow, upon which his friend retrieved Hamilton’s little pocket testament, being a Christmas gift from his younger sister Allie Merle; pasted in his Holy Book was a picture of his mother, and then thanking this soldier he said: “Saving breath for Dad and Ma.”
Even in the grasp of the dreaded disease, he kept his cheer, vision and thoughtful devotion and during the last moments, realizing that the dear ones would come too late, he slipped a treasured ring and the little khaki Testament under his pillow with the request that they be sent home. Underlined in his Testament was the scripture John 11:25-26; “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Hamilton’s body was returned home to Arkansas with his parents, where he was laid to rest on January 16th, at Oak Grove Cemetery, just one mile east of Central Baptist College. His tombstone bears the inscription of John 11:25-26, that was so dear to his heart and comforted him at the end.
One cannot express how devastating the loss of Hamilton was to the Conger family and to all his friends that loved him - being the only remaining son of Dr. and Mrs. Conger, who had lost their youngest boy, Jack, in infancy. From childhood, Hamilton had been a most ideal and exemplary young man. At the tender age of twelve years, under the influence of the Christian community in which he was raised, he gave himself to Christ, and was buried with Him in baptism, in the waters of the Ouachita River. Knowing his soul was secure was a powerful comfort for those that loved him. With the passing of Hamilton, so to passed the continuance of the Conger family name, a realization not lost on his bereaving sisters, especially Elise.
Far from the heartbreak at Arkansas, another war tale was playing out that was of interest to the Shapard family of Shelbyville, Tennessee. David Evander Shapard’s cousin, Evander Shapard, Jr. (1893-1940), whose father, Evander Shapard, Sr. (1843-1921), was David’s middle namesake, joined the Royal Flying Corps as an aviator. WWI was the first war in which airplanes were used in combat. After graduating law school at Vanderbilt University, Evander enlisted and was sent to Toronto, Canada, for his cadet training. After his advancement to airman, he received his commission as a second lieutenant on January 5, 1918, and was ordered to sail to England. During the voyage there was an alarm of submarines, and one of the vessels in his caravan of twelve was torpedoed and sunk. Upon reaching London, Evander was posted to the 92 squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, predecessor of the Royal Air Force that was organized in April of 1918, and received a few more months of flight training before being sent into combat on the French western front.
Upon reaching the French theater of war, Evander was issued a British S. E. 5a bi-wing fighter. With a top speed of about 120 mph, this plane had a 26 foot wing span, 21 foot length body and was armed with two machine guns: a Vickers .303 mounted on the port side of the fuselage and a Lewis .303 mounted atop the upper wing. On July 29, 1918, Evander had his first air battle. Just north of Estaires, his squadron of five encountered a German two-seater. Evander dove, riddling the Hun’s craft with bullets, bringing it down, like a shot bird, crashing into a bomb shell crater. He recalled that the brave tail gunner kept shooting at him until his aircraft impacted the ground, hitting Evander’s plane thrice to no effect.
His next kill occurred on September 5, 1918, at Cambrai. Though heavily outnumbered, Evander brought down a German Fokker, before the Huns turned in force on him, shooting his planes to bits. Evander’s plane had the good fortune of gliding down, just reaching the French side of the lines before touching the earth. Remarkably, despite the massive damage to his craft, he was entirely unscathed.
On October 4, 1918, a great air battle commenced southeast of Bertry, and Evander brought down two German Hannover C escort fighters. Only a few weeks later, he was engaged in a fierce areal scrap with the Huns south of Pont Du Nord, where he again brought down a duet of enemy crafts, this time two German D. F. W. reconnaissance planes. On November 4, 1918, in low clouds and heavy rain, Lieut. Evander led his squadron on an attack of German ground troops. He flew his machine at such a low altitude that his plane received shrapnel damage from his own bombs. He successfully attacked a dense concentration of enemy troops in the face of heavy rifle and canon fire at point blank range. On November 11, 1918, the fighting came to an end according to the agreement of the armistice. Lieut. Evander Shapard was hailed as a WWI ace fighter pilot, credited with six kills. In addition, he was honored with the British Distinguished Flying Cross for his skill as a pilot and his inspiration to his squadron by his intrepid daring and resourcefulness.
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