Luther C. Warner 2nd was awarded the Croix de Guerre, driving an ambulance during the Great War

Hometown Heroes, honoring men and women who have served in our nation’s military, has become a Guilderland tradition. Family, friends, or organizations have the opportunity to submit the name, branch of service, dates, and photo to be displayed on a banner at Tawasentha Park from June through November.

Sponsored by the Guilderland Historical Society, a banner honors Luther C. Warner 2nd, an ambulance driver in 1917 and 1918 who saw action during World War I. After returning in 1919, he became one of the charter members of Altamont’s American Legion Helderberg Post 977 at the time of its organization in 1924.

Luther C. Warner 2nd, to distinguish him from his uncle, Luther C. Warner, at that time very prominent in Albany County Republican politics and county clerk, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Warner of Berne. After attending elementary school Berne, he transferred to Altamont High School, graduating in 1913, next attending Cornell University.

Although World War I began raging in 1914, the United States did not enter the war until April 1917. At the initial outbreak of the war in 1914, a private group called the American Field Service organized and recruited many college men who volunteered as ambulance drivers to aid the Allies.

Once the United States entered the war, Luther C. Warner volunteered shortly after as an American Field Service ambulance driver. Quickly arriving in France, he was assigned to the French army by July 1917.

A prolific correspondent, many of his well-written, lengthy letters were reprinted on the front page of The Altamont Enterprise. He reached the front months before other local men in the Allied Expeditionary Force, as the American army was named during this conflict, were recruited, trained, and transported to Europe, so his early letters were the first eye-witness accounts reaching the newspaper’s reading audience.

Training

Initially his letter of Aug. 23, 1917 found him 40 miles from Paris, but only 25 miles from the front lines. Even at that distance during heavy attacks, the roar of the artillery fire was audible especially at night when light from bursting shells and bombs could be seen. “There is at present a great attack on Verdun with the French on the offensive and they have gained some ground ….”

This letter  noted he was practicing driving, compared French and American engines, and was hoping to have a Ford “car,” which we have to assume was fitted out to be an ambulance. Simple repairs were also part of the training.

After recounting his daily schedule, he described at length the architecture and agriculture in this region of France. A week later, he was still in training camp expecting to return to Paris briefly before being sent out to the front lines.

A second letter “Warner Writes Again” appeared on the front page. By early September, he had finally arrived at his section where they were doing evacuation work, carrying convalescents from one hospital, probably close to the front lines, to another, probably further back, but so far he had not carried anyone just wounded in the Ford ambulance he was driving.

Traveling at night when it was less dangerous than daytime, no lights were allowed so that drivers navigating roads pocked with shell holes in the dark made it a different set of dangers.

He mentioned that some towns in France seemed untouched by the war, but that others were seriously damaged, mentioning that two nights ago a “Boche” (German) plane dropped a few bombs on a small village nearby, killing 20 persons. He ended his letter with the information that he would soon be moving to a post near the front “where things will be more exciting.”

His next letter written “somewhere in France” appeared on the front page as usual. This letter was actually written Sept. 15. He wrote that cars had to be kept in running order, ready to leave on a call at a moment’s notice. Expert mechanics were on hand to deal with serious problems, fixing a broken axle for instance.

On a personal note, Warner wrote that he had purchased an inexpensive pocket Kodak in Paris and in future letters noted taking photos although photographing in the war zone was forbidden. Most of his photos would be of agricultural subjects.

“Very anxious”

Within a week, they were to move within two miles of the German lines. “I am very anxious as I know it will be very interesting and exciting.” Then he described his “section” which included 20 ambulances, a staff car, two vehicles with French names, a reserve supply car, an American leader, a French Lieutenant, orderlies, a sergeant, a cook, mechanics, and a few helpers.

A tale of a scary experience ended the letter. The Frenchmen accompanying him supposedly knew the way on a dark night, navigating a road full of shell holes six feet across and one to three feet deep. Following the Frenchman’s directions even though Warner had misgivings, they found themselves hopelessly lost.

After getting out, walking, and finally getting directions, they eventually reached their hospital destination, discovering that at one point they had come within a few hundred yards of German lines.

When will the Americans get here and in the trenches was a question he heard repeatedly. Almost every Frenchman under age 50 was in uniform. War weariness and exhaustion were prevalent.

Leading off another of the Enterprise’s front pages was a riveting  letter detailing his up close and personal view of a German plane crashing. Apparently trying to photograph the location of the French artillery and supply area for information to aim their artillery’s shelling, the plane, likely hit by French fire, went into a spiral.

As the pilot attempted to keep control, it turned upside down, the pilot managing to right it again. After spiraling one or two more times, the plane plunged straight into the ground, the impact killing the two Germans on board.

The French claimed the engine to possibly be reused, while everyone tried to get a piece of the plane as a souvenir. Warner got the job of taking the two dead Germans to the site where they would be buried.

He commented that the Germans had no visible injuries, probably dying of internal injuries. He noted, “I have carried men in my car suffering from (poison) gas and shell wounds who were a more pitiful sight than these two fellows.”

Trenches

For quite some time, none of his correspondence appeared until May 17, 1918 when a letter to his sister appeared. Still in the same area where he had been since January, Warner described the trenches where they spent most of their time when they weren’t on duty.

Most were 10 to 20 feet below ground, but his location was 39 feet below. The lines were exactly the same since April when the French pushed back the Germans.

Descriptions of the sufferings of civilians show up throughout his letters. The wreckage of villages where the stone and stucco buildings have been shattered by shell fire is mentioned several times in various letters.

Women and children in one area starved and suffered from winter cold because of a regiment of men raised from their city, ages 19 to 50, only four came back. The remainder either were killed or died later of wounds.

With the beginning of the Second Battle of the Marne in June, the Germans began an offensive aimed at Paris. Warner commented, “The saddest part of this retreat is to see the French refugees fleeing with what little baggage as they can pack on a cart or baby carriage or on their back … the little children walking for miles and miles.”

His last letter to be published was July 12 when the Second Battle of the Marne had begun, one last desperate offensive by the Germans to take Paris. When Warner wrote, it seemed as if the French were in retreat and their only protection were trenches they could dig in a short time.

Dressing stations for the wounded kept being moved, making it more difficult for the ambulances to find. “We have heard of cases where drivers continued on their routes and ran right in the Boche lines. We wear Red Cross brasses which entitle a man to be exchanged if captured.”

Wounded

Ironically, days after his letter’s publication, he was wounded. On July 26, an Enterprise front page notice announced, “Luther C. Warner, 2nd Wounded By Hun Shell.”

A telegram received by his parents said he was “slightly wounded by shell fire in charge of his duties.” Days after his wounding, Warner’s commanding officer Lieutenant Elliot H. Lee sent a personal letter to his mother detailing the circumstances; this was later published in the Enterprise.

While German bombardment was at its height, “Luke’s Car was riddled with eclat (pieces of shrapnel), all the tires being ruined, the radiator being punctured, spokes broken … Luke started with Varney to go on foot to a post on the other side of the river … their route lay through a wheat field very heavily shelled and both had to drop on their faces again and again. Finally one shell came very close — Varney dropped in time, but for Luke it was too late.”

Warner had a broken arm, fingers cut, and his leg hurt so he was unable to walk. His companion ran for help, returning with men who got him back to the post so he could be quickly evacuated to the rear.

Lt. Lee noted that throughout Warner “evidenced the finest spirit of fortitude and courage” with the chief of medical service recommending he be awarded the Croix de Guerre. Luther Warner was, indeed, awarded the Cross of War, a French medal recognizing heroism during combat. Earning one was considered a great honor.

Coming home

World War I finally ended on Nov. 11, 1918 finding Warner “alive and well” along with several local soldiers listed in The Enterprise in December. Because the United States did not have the capability to transport the huge numbers of American veterans home in a hurry, concern began to grow about their increasing discontent, anxious to get back to normal lives.

Led by Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr., officers and soldiers met and organized what they called the American Legion at a meeting in Paris on March 15 and 16, 1918. It was chartered by Congress on Sept. 16, 1919. As the men returned home, American Legion chapters began to be formed.

Warner’s return home was noted on page one of The Enterprise in a separate notice. He quickly completed his college degree and, in 1923, married Margaret Kirk of Altamont, settling down in the village where he spent the remainder of his life.

About this time, he began to work at General Electric, receiving many promotions until his retirement at age 65.

He was likely one of the “boys” who showed “considerable enthusiasm” at the November 1924 meeting to organize Altamont’s Helderberg Post 977 of the American Legion and is considered one of the group’s charter members.

During the remainder of his life, Warner found time for community service, at various times serving as an Altamont Library trustee, on the Altamont School Board, and as a village trustee. He was also very active with St. John’s Lutheran Church as well as Noah Masonic Lodge.

Luther C. Warner represented the best in our nation, willing to defend it in time of war and working to make his community better in time of peace.

Author’s note: Credit for initial research about Luther C. Warner 2nd goes to Kathleen Ford Gaige with input from his nephew, Homer Warner, during her research on the charter members of Helderberg Post 977 at the time of their centennial in 2024.