Biography provided by Lisa Oberg:
"In case anything happens to me, I want to be brought back and buried in the Homeland—the good old U.S.A." (South Bend News-Times, 22 Dec 1921, pg. 10) Those words were attributed to First Lieutenant Frank Bleuler, instructions for his parents as he prepared to depart for France with the American Expeditionary Forces in 1917.
Frank Ernest Bleuler was born on September 9, 1890, in Ashland, Illinois. He was the only child of Ernest Albert Bleuler, a physician, and his wife the former Mary Helen Thompson. Frank grew up in Carlinville, Illinois, where the Bleuler family is enumerated in the 1900 U.S. federal census. Frank attended local schools including the Blackburn Academy in Carlinville and later the Culver Military Academy, in Culver, Indiana. Perhaps seeking the opportunities of the West, the Bleuler family moved to Seattle in 1906 or 1907. Frank graduated from Seattle High School (also later known as Broadway High School) in 1908 and attended the University of Washington from 1908 to 1909. At the time of the 1910 census, 19-year-old Frank is employed as a census enumerator in Seattle.
The family later moved back to the Midwest, settling in South Bend, Indiana, where Frank worked at Studebaker. Frank was required to register for the first Selective Service draft on June 5, 1917. His registration indicates he was already a candidate at the first Reserve Officers' Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where he received training from May–August 1917. He received his commission as a First Lieutenant on August 15, 1917. He sailed for France on the S. S. Mongolia on September 11, 1917, not yet having been assigned to a unit. He later attended Infantry Officers' School at La Valbonne, France, from October–December 1917. He was then assigned to 166th Infantry, part of the 42nd Division, also known as the Rainbow Division.
While with the 166th Infantry, Frank participated in several key battles including Champagne, Chateau Thierry, Aisne-Marne and St. Mihiel. He was wounded in action on September 12, 1918, near Pannes, France and evacuated. Following his recovery, he was transferred to Blois on October 30, 1918, and appointed Assistant Post Adjutant. The worst did happen, and after contracting influenza, Frank died of pneumonia at Evacuation Hospital No. 35 on February 13, 1919, after an illness of five days. His previous injury of a bullet wound to the lung was thought to have hastened his death.
Initially buried at a municipal cemetery in Blois, when Gold Star families were asked if they preferred the option of re-burying the bodies in national cemeteries in France, keeping the graves where they were, or bringing them home, Frank's parents chose to bring their son home. Frank's father, Ernest, died on May 29, 1920, before his son's remains could be returned. His cause of death was recorded as paralysis agitans (also known as Parkinson's disease), but a contributing cause was also noted, "loss of only child." Frank's remains arrived back in the U.S. aboard the U.S.A.T. St. Mihiel in December of 1921, and he was buried at Riverside Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday, December 23, 1921. Mary Bleuler lived in California for many years and died on March 31, 1949, in Petersburg, Illinois.
Frank is remembered as a Gold Star of several institutions including Blackburn Academy, Culver Military Academy, and the University of Washington.
"In case anything happens to me, I want to be brought back and buried in the Homeland—the good old U.S.A." (South Bend News-Times, 22 Dec 1921, pg. 10) Those words were attributed to First Lieutenant Frank Bleuler, instructions for his parents as he prepared to depart for France with the American Expeditionary Forces in 1917.
Frank Ernest Bleuler was born on September 9, 1890, in Ashland, Illinois. He was the only child of Ernest Albert Bleuler, a physician, and his wife the former Mary Helen Thompson. Frank grew up in Carlinville, Illinois, where the Bleuler family is enumerated in the 1900 U.S. federal census. Frank attended local schools including the Blackburn Academy in Carlinville and later the Culver Military Academy, in Culver, Indiana. Perhaps seeking the opportunities of the West, the Bleuler family moved to Seattle in 1906 or 1907. Frank graduated from Seattle High School (also later known as Broadway High School) in 1908 and attended the University of Washington from 1908 to 1909. At the time of the 1910 census, 19-year-old Frank is employed as a census enumerator in Seattle.
The family later moved back to the Midwest, settling in South Bend, Indiana, where Frank worked at Studebaker. Frank was required to register for the first Selective Service draft on June 5, 1917. His registration indicates he was already a candidate at the first Reserve Officers' Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where he received training from May–August 1917. He received his commission as a First Lieutenant on August 15, 1917. He sailed for France on the S. S. Mongolia on September 11, 1917, not yet having been assigned to a unit. He later attended Infantry Officers' School at La Valbonne, France, from October–December 1917. He was then assigned to 166th Infantry, part of the 42nd Division, also known as the Rainbow Division.
While with the 166th Infantry, Frank participated in several key battles including Champagne, Chateau Thierry, Aisne-Marne and St. Mihiel. He was wounded in action on September 12, 1918, near Pannes, France and evacuated. Following his recovery, he was transferred to Blois on October 30, 1918, and appointed Assistant Post Adjutant. The worst did happen, and after contracting influenza, Frank died of pneumonia at Evacuation Hospital No. 35 on February 13, 1919, after an illness of five days. His previous injury of a bullet wound to the lung was thought to have hastened his death.
Initially buried at a municipal cemetery in Blois, when Gold Star families were asked if they preferred the option of re-burying the bodies in national cemeteries in France, keeping the graves where they were, or bringing them home, Frank's parents chose to bring their son home. Frank's father, Ernest, died on May 29, 1920, before his son's remains could be returned. His cause of death was recorded as paralysis agitans (also known as Parkinson's disease), but a contributing cause was also noted, "loss of only child." Frank's remains arrived back in the U.S. aboard the U.S.A.T. St. Mihiel in December of 1921, and he was buried at Riverside Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday, December 23, 1921. Mary Bleuler lived in California for many years and died on March 31, 1949, in Petersburg, Illinois.
Frank is remembered as a Gold Star of several institutions including Blackburn Academy, Culver Military Academy, and the University of Washington.
Biography provided by Lisa Oberg:
"In case anything happens to me, I want to be brought back and buried in the Homeland—the good old U.S.A." (South Bend News-Times, 22 Dec 1921, pg. 10) Those words were attributed to First Lieutenant Frank Bleuler, instructions for his parents as he prepared to depart for France with the American Expeditionary Forces in 1917.
Frank Ernest Bleuler was born on September 9, 1890, in Ashland, Illinois. He was the only child of Ernest Albert Bleuler, a physician, and his wife the former Mary Helen Thompson. Frank grew up in Carlinville, Illinois, where the Bleuler family is enumerated in the 1900 U.S. federal census. Frank attended local schools including the Blackburn Academy in Carlinville and later the Culver Military Academy, in Culver, Indiana. Perhaps seeking the opportunities of the West, the Bleuler family moved to Seattle in 1906 or 1907. Frank graduated from Seattle High School (also later known as Broadway High School) in 1908 and attended the University of Washington from 1908 to 1909. At the time of the 1910 census, 19-year-old Frank is employed as a census enumerator in Seattle.
The family later moved back to the Midwest, settling in South Bend, Indiana, where Frank worked at Studebaker. Frank was required to register for the first Selective Service draft on June 5, 1917. His registration indicates he was already a candidate at the first Reserve Officers' Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where he received training from May–August 1917. He received his commission as a First Lieutenant on August 15, 1917. He sailed for France on the S. S. Mongolia on September 11, 1917, not yet having been assigned to a unit. He later attended Infantry Officers' School at La Valbonne, France, from October–December 1917. He was then assigned to 166th Infantry, part of the 42nd Division, also known as the Rainbow Division.
While with the 166th Infantry, Frank participated in several key battles including Champagne, Chateau Thierry, Aisne-Marne and St. Mihiel. He was wounded in action on September 12, 1918, near Pannes, France and evacuated. Following his recovery, he was transferred to Blois on October 30, 1918, and appointed Assistant Post Adjutant. The worst did happen, and after contracting influenza, Frank died of pneumonia at Evacuation Hospital No. 35 on February 13, 1919, after an illness of five days. His previous injury of a bullet wound to the lung was thought to have hastened his death.
Initially buried at a municipal cemetery in Blois, when Gold Star families were asked if they preferred the option of re-burying the bodies in national cemeteries in France, keeping the graves where they were, or bringing them home, Frank's parents chose to bring their son home. Frank's father, Ernest, died on May 29, 1920, before his son's remains could be returned. His cause of death was recorded as paralysis agitans (also known as Parkinson's disease), but a contributing cause was also noted, "loss of only child." Frank's remains arrived back in the U.S. aboard the U.S.A.T. St. Mihiel in December of 1921, and he was buried at Riverside Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday, December 23, 1921. Mary Bleuler lived in California for many years and died on March 31, 1949, in Petersburg, Illinois.
Frank is remembered as a Gold Star of several institutions including Blackburn Academy, Culver Military Academy, and the University of Washington.
"In case anything happens to me, I want to be brought back and buried in the Homeland—the good old U.S.A." (South Bend News-Times, 22 Dec 1921, pg. 10) Those words were attributed to First Lieutenant Frank Bleuler, instructions for his parents as he prepared to depart for France with the American Expeditionary Forces in 1917.
Frank Ernest Bleuler was born on September 9, 1890, in Ashland, Illinois. He was the only child of Ernest Albert Bleuler, a physician, and his wife the former Mary Helen Thompson. Frank grew up in Carlinville, Illinois, where the Bleuler family is enumerated in the 1900 U.S. federal census. Frank attended local schools including the Blackburn Academy in Carlinville and later the Culver Military Academy, in Culver, Indiana. Perhaps seeking the opportunities of the West, the Bleuler family moved to Seattle in 1906 or 1907. Frank graduated from Seattle High School (also later known as Broadway High School) in 1908 and attended the University of Washington from 1908 to 1909. At the time of the 1910 census, 19-year-old Frank is employed as a census enumerator in Seattle.
The family later moved back to the Midwest, settling in South Bend, Indiana, where Frank worked at Studebaker. Frank was required to register for the first Selective Service draft on June 5, 1917. His registration indicates he was already a candidate at the first Reserve Officers' Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where he received training from May–August 1917. He received his commission as a First Lieutenant on August 15, 1917. He sailed for France on the S. S. Mongolia on September 11, 1917, not yet having been assigned to a unit. He later attended Infantry Officers' School at La Valbonne, France, from October–December 1917. He was then assigned to 166th Infantry, part of the 42nd Division, also known as the Rainbow Division.
While with the 166th Infantry, Frank participated in several key battles including Champagne, Chateau Thierry, Aisne-Marne and St. Mihiel. He was wounded in action on September 12, 1918, near Pannes, France and evacuated. Following his recovery, he was transferred to Blois on October 30, 1918, and appointed Assistant Post Adjutant. The worst did happen, and after contracting influenza, Frank died of pneumonia at Evacuation Hospital No. 35 on February 13, 1919, after an illness of five days. His previous injury of a bullet wound to the lung was thought to have hastened his death.
Initially buried at a municipal cemetery in Blois, when Gold Star families were asked if they preferred the option of re-burying the bodies in national cemeteries in France, keeping the graves where they were, or bringing them home, Frank's parents chose to bring their son home. Frank's father, Ernest, died on May 29, 1920, before his son's remains could be returned. His cause of death was recorded as paralysis agitans (also known as Parkinson's disease), but a contributing cause was also noted, "loss of only child." Frank's remains arrived back in the U.S. aboard the U.S.A.T. St. Mihiel in December of 1921, and he was buried at Riverside Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday, December 23, 1921. Mary Bleuler lived in California for many years and died on March 31, 1949, in Petersburg, Illinois.
Frank is remembered as a Gold Star of several institutions including Blackburn Academy, Culver Military Academy, and the University of Washington.
Inscription
Lᴛ. FRANK E. BLEULER
1891 — 1919
Cᴏ. I. 166ᴛʜ. INFANTRY
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