Walter Kallsen WWI Photo and Document Gallery

Walter Kallsen, my great grandfather on my paternal side, served the United States in WWI from Deuel County, Nebraska.

What do we know about Walter and his service? I have a copy of his discharge papers from the Veterans Service Office in Deuel County, Nebraska that I was asked not to duplicate, but that combined with the limited service records available after a fire in the National Archives shows us the following:

• Walter was a Private 1st Class in Company B, 137th Infantry in the United States Army
• He was inducted on Oct 3, 1917 in Chappell, NE
• He was discharged from service on May 9, 1919 as the unit was demoblized
• On April 25, 1918 he sailed for Europe from New York, NY on the SS-Karmala
• His discharge papers state that he was involved in the following battles, engagements and expeditions: Meuse Argonne, Gerardmer, Grange-le-Comte
• For additional information this site , this site and this site are dedicated totally to the Meuse Argonne Campaign
• He was gassed with mustard gas on Nov 2, 1918 after the Meuse Argonne. This information was gained not only from his letter home printed below, but from the Morning Reports for his regiment that are on Fold3.
• He sailed home leaving from Brest, France on April 12, 1919 headed back to the United States on the USS Manchuria
• His service records contain the final payroll in which he had a balance paid of $118.86
• Walter’s character was classified as “excellent”
• The discharge papers do not list a purple heart, but Maxine Kallsen Mauser remembers seeing one. Further research reveals that the Purple Heart was reinstated in 1932 after a long absence and any WWI soldiers who were wounded (includes gassing) were eligible That detail is found on his burial card
• For anyone interested in a Regiment History there is a book – Remembrances of the 137th Infantry – available for free on HathiTrust

In further searching we were able to locate a regiment photo for Walter. Originally this photo was in bad shape, but thanks to digital restoration we were able to create an amazing image.