Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial

—

First World War Commemorative Garden

—

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2025

1. Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery Marker

Ernest McNish, Second Lieutenant, US Army
369th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division
September 29, 1918
Plot F, Row 4, Grave #37
Missouri

Click or scan to see
this page online

Touch for directions.

Midwest,

Corridor,

Belt.

America,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Culture,

Purchase,

South.

Courtesy Lura McAllister

2. Marker detail: Second Lieutenant Ernest McNish

As a Second Lieutenant, Ernest McNish was the highest ranking soldier from Linn County killed in World War I. The American Legion named the Brookfield post the Earnest A. McNish, MO Post 182 in his honor.

Excerpt:  The rattlesnake shoulder patch of the 369th Infantry Regiment, whose nom de guerre was ‘Harlem Hell Fighters’. The regiment’s insignia consisted of a coiled rattlesnake ready to strike on a field of black.

Excerpt:  The Meuse–Argonne campaign was a major

3. Marker detail: 369th Regiment Patch
(the Harlem Hell Fighters)

The 369th Regiment of the 93rd Division had their own distinct patch of a coiled rattlesnake. Courtesy http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/202900-world-2ar-i-war-service-chevrons/page-2

part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918, a total of 47 days. The Meuse–Argonne offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, sailors and marines, along with 800,000 French and 850 Siamese personnel. It is also the deadliest campaign in the history of the United States Army, resulting in over 350,000 casualties, including 28,000 German lives, 26,277 American lives and abound 35,000 French lives. American losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops, the tactics used during the early phases of the operation, and the widespread onset of the global influenza outbreak called the “Spanish flu.”
The offensive was the principal engagement of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I. It was one of a series of Allied attacks, known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which brought the war to an end. It was the largest and bloodiest operation of the entire war for the AEF even though, given the scale of other battles on the Western

4. Marker detail: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery location

Front, its size was limited and the operation itself secondary, being far from the main offensive axis.

Excerpt:  The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery is located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon in Meuse. The cemetery contains the largest number of American military dead in Europe (14,246), most of whom lost their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and were buried there. The cemetery consists of eight sections behind a large central reflection pool. Beyond the grave sections is a chapel which is decorated with stained glass windows depicting American units' insignias. Along the walls of the chapel area are the tablets of the missing which include the names of those soldiers who fought in the region and in northern Russia but have no known grave. It also includes the Meuse-Argonne American Memorial.

(Rose Hill

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2025

5. Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery Marker

The marker is near the northeast corner of the First World War Commemorative Garden.

Cemetery, Brookfield, Linn County, Missouri, USA) Excerpt:  Member of; the 77th Inf. Div. (Statue of Liberty) 153rd Inf. Brigade 305th Inf. Reg., the 30th Inf. Div. (Old Hickory) 59th Inf. Brig. 117th Inf. Reg. and the 93rd Inf. Div. (Blue Helmet's) 185th Inf. Reg. 369 Inf. Reg. (Harlem Hell Fighters/Harlem's Rattlers) First Battalion Company D, A.E.F., KIA near Sechault, France. Buried; Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery & Memorial, Lorraine, France.