[S-52-2]-Walter C. Abel/Wisconsin/Major 127 Infantry Div./World War I/
Aug. 28, 1882-Aug. 18, 1959 [d. at Milwaukee WI/bur. on William Abel lot]


WALTER C. ABEL

Word was received that Walter C. Abel of 1032 S. Seventh St.,
Manitowoc, died Tuesday afternoon while attending a meeting
at Milwaukee. Mr. Abel was civil defense director for the City
of Manitowoc.
Manitowoc Herald Times, Tuesday, August 18, 1959 p.11
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Maj. Walter C. Abel, 76 (photo), of 1032 S. Seventh St., Manitowoc,
died unexpectedly of a heart attack Tuesday afternoon while having
lunch at Cudworth Post American Legion eatery, Milwaukee.
Funeral services will be conducted by the American Legion Post 88
at 2 p.m. Friday at Urbanek and Schlei Funeral Home, Manitowoc.
Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Manitowoc.
Major Abel was born Aug. 28, 1882, at Manitowoc, son of the late
Capt. William and Ida Johnsen Abel. He married the former Alice
Bedford Dec. 26, 1907, at Manitowoc. The couple lived its entire
life at Manitowoc. She died in 1955. Major Abel served as company
commander of Manitowoc's Co. H in the Mexican border campaign of
1916, the same capacity his father had with the company during the
Spanish-American War. Following the Mexican action he was promoted
to major and served overseas in France with Co. E of Wisconsin's
127th Infantry during World War I. He retired from army life in
1919 after completing 20 years of service and from this time until
the outbreak of World War II he served in an official capacity with
Goodrich Transit Co. at Manitowoc. During World War II he served as
chief of Manitowoc Shipbuilding Inc. protection forces where he had
charge of the guard staff. He retired from this capacity in 1946
and Dec. 20, 1950, accepted the appointment with the city's civilian
defense setup. At the time of his death he was chief administrator
of Civilian Defense for the City of Manitowoc.
Major Abel was a member of the American Legion, Masons, Golden Agers,
Fish and Game Assn., Squeaker's Sip Club and a lifelong member of
the American Legion Post Commanders Club.
Survivors include a son, Wilbur, of Wisconsin Rapids; five daughters,
Mrs. Robert Duhnke of Appleton, Mrs. Dorothy Levendusky of Manitowoc,
Mrs. William Culligan of Two Rivers, Mrs. Warren Kelley of Milwaukee
and Mrs. Reinhold Detjen Jr. of Manitowoc; 20 grandchildren and a
great grandchild.
Friends may call at the funeral home after 3 p.m. Thursday.
Manitowoc Herald Times, Wednesday, August 19, 1959 p.21
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MAJOR ABEL HOME FROM OVERSEAS SAYS WAR IS ALL SHERMAN SAID AND THEN SOME
Local Officers of Opinion That Thousands of Casualties Among the U.S. Boys
Have Not Been Reported Was on Firing Line for Several Months
"War is all that Sherman said it was and then some." So declared Maj.
Walter Abel, former commander of Company H and commissioned major in
the Sixth Wisconsin at the outbreak of the war, when he arrived home
from overseas yesterday afternoon. Maj. Abel reached New York a week
ago from Brest, France where he had been stationed for several months
and was sent to Camp Dix, New Jersey, and granted leave of absence to
return to his home in this city. Maj. Abel was accompanied by Capt. Ed.
Schmidt, who commanded Company C of Sheboygan and who returned from
Camp Dix with him yesterday. Maj. Abel at his home today is getting
acquainted with his family from whom he has been separated for eighteen
months, the major having left here in August, 1917. He accompanied the
Wisconsin group south and later to Camp Merritt and crossed overseas
in January last year, sailing from New York on Jan. 31. Passing through
England, Maj. Abel was sent to France into the training camps and on
May 17 received his first baptism of fire in the Lorraine sector at Toul
where his command was in action at the front. Maj. Abel remained on the
firing line for several months, participating in a number of the notable
battles of the war and fortunately escaping unscathed. "I was pretty
lucky," said the major today as he told of some of the losses which his
command had suffered in action. "I was never hit and never gassed and
came through without a scratch." Maj. Abel was disinclined to talk of
his service but said that Sherman was surely right when he said that
"war is h-ll." In the opinion of Maj. Abel hundreds of American
casualties have not been reported from overseas and it is not improbable
that many of the boys believed to be safe and (illegible) the war ended,
may be dead and (illegible) Maj. Abel says that every effort was made by
commanding officers overseas to check up the casualties but that it was
oft times impossible to secure the accurate information and that many
casualties have probably occurred which there is no record. Following
his service in the Lorraine sector, Maj. Abel was transferred to Brest,
France where he has been stationed for the past five months in charge of
transportation to the United States and where he was named as commander
of the post. The Manitowoc officer said that he had not met many of the
Manitowoc boys while overseas and had not encountered Capt. Edward Schmidt,
who succeeded him as commander of Company H of this city. He had heard of
Schmidt from others, however and said that the captain had won distinction
in his service. Maj. Abel crossed the seas attached to the Thirty-second
division but was not in action with that division, having been transferred
upon his arrival in France to the One Hundred Second infantry with which
he served in the Lorraine sector. When the call for Wisconsin troops came,
Capt. Abel then commanding Company H of this city, was commissioned a major
and assigned to the Sixth regiment, one of the new regiments organized in
the state to fill the quota called for from Wisconsin. With his regiment,
Maj. Abel was at Camp Douglas and later in the east before his departure
for overseas. "I don't know but what I might be a ‘conscientious objector'
to future wars," said Maj. Abel today when asked whether he liked the
service. No one who has been in the game has a liking for it but of course
the boys (illegible) that if the call came again, we'd be just as ready to
respond," he said. The arrival of Maj. Abel was not announced last night
and no demonstration was arranged for us would probably have been the ?
had it been known that he was to return so soon. On the Leviathan, the
steamer on which Maj. Abel returned to the states he met Capt. Lester Kuntz
of this city who has been appointed for service in transportation of the
United States troops from overseas and who is crossing and re-crossing the
ocean on the big transport accompanying the American boys back home. Maj.
Abel, previous to his enlistment, was with the Goodrich Transit company
in this city. As soon as the major receives his discharge from the service
he plans to take a much needed rest and has not determined upon what he
will engage in. He is the son of Capt. William Abel, who served with the
Wisconsin troops in the Porto Rican campaign. Another Manitowoc man who
has been commissioned a major is expected to arrive in the city next week
is Major A. ? Nash being scheduled to reach New York on his return next
Saturday.
Manitowoc Herald News, Wednesday, February 19, 1919 Page 1
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[d. at Milwaukee WI/bur. on William Abel lot]