LIEUT. DARST, MISSOURIAN, WHO WAS WOUNDED, TELLS HOW 89TH DIVISION LIVED, SUFFERED, LAUGHED AND FOUGHT ON SOIL OF FRANCE
ST. LOUIS GLOBE DEMOCRAT MONDAY MORNING, APRIL 7, 1919
Lieut. Darst Is Missouri Born And Bred, a Soldier and Writer
James E. Darst, who held a commission as second lieutenant of infantry while he was in the army, is a St. Louisan, born and bred. As the author of this account of the achievements of the Eighty-ninth Division he has the triple advantage of being a newspaper man, a published writer of fiction and non-fiction, and a soldier who was in the think of the fighting at the Battle of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He was not a correspondent, living at division headquarters and poring over the statistics of training and advance, but was a platoon leader, living in the front-line trenches when it was his company's turn to live there and getting "local color" by the best of all methods-namely, being a part of the local color himself. Mr. Darst is an experienced newspaper man and writer. He was at various times on the local department of the Globe-Democrat, was a Sunday editor and night editor. His employment with the Globe-Democrat covered a period of four years. After the war he was on the staff of the American Legion Magazine. He served as a press aide to Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Commander-in-Chief of the western forces in World War I during Foch's two-month triumphal tour of the United States in 1921.
University Graduate
Mr.
Darst was born in Ferguson, St Louis County, Mo., August 29, 1890.
He was educated in the public schools, and the academy and college of St. Louis
University, graduating in 1910 with the degree of A.B. He has been
in newspaper work in St. Louis most of the time since his graduation.
After his return from overseas he came back to his former position on the
Globe-Democrat. When the war with Germany broke out in
1917, Mr. Darst immediately volunteered for the first officers' training camp.
He served three months at Fort Riley, Kan., being commissioned second lieutenant
August 15, 1917. He reported September 6 to the Eighty-ninth Division at
Camp Funston, Kan., and after serving two months with the One Hundred and
Sixty-fourth Depot Brigade was assigned to the Three Hundred and Fortieth
Machine Gun Battalion. Three months later, in January, 1918, when the
machine-gun organization of all the American divisions was changed, he was
transferred with his entire company to the Three Hundred and Forty-first
Machine-Gun Battalion.
In Command of Platoon
Lt.. Darst
went over with Company D of the Three Hundred and Forty-first Machine Gun
Battalion, commanded a platoon in the line and saw service in the Toul sector,
the St. Mihiel drive and the last Meuse-Argonne offensive. He developed
pneumonia after from phosgen gas during the St. Mihiel drive and spent six
weeks in the hospital. He rejoined his division just in time to
participate in the last drive of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, starting November
1. He was struck soon after the drive started by a piece of high-explosive
shell, and again spent five weeks in the hospital. He was ordered to the
United States as a convalescent officer, arriving in New York February 27, 1919.
His division is still in Germany, a part of the army of occupation, with
headquarters at Treves.
The former home of James Waters Darst and wife, Julia Perkins, built 1899. Located at 13 N. Elizabeth, Ferguson, Mo. (northern St. Louis County). Their son, James E. Darst, who grew up here, was an editor of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and served in the 89th Division during World War I. Photo taken by Scott K. Williams on September 3, 2002.
The below articles, from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, were contributed by the family of James E. Darst.
What the 89th Is and Where It Fought (April 7th, 1919 cont.)
The Doughboy Just Before 'Zero Hour' Ticks, While He Snuggles in 'Fox Hole' (April 7th, 1919 cont.)
How New Men Feel in Trenches (April 8th, 1919)
Soldiers Under Fire; Dugout Etiquette; Passwords (April 9, 1919)
No-Man's Land Ahead (April 10, 1919)
...Plans Unfold for Piercing the German Trenches; Order to Attack 'Jerry' (April 11, 1919)
Zero Hour Arrives at St. Mihiel; Terrific Barrage Pounds German Lines; Enemy Dugouts (April 14, 1919)
Advances Pauses; Doughboys Dig-In; Under Triple Fire (April 15, 1919)
Grime, Hunger and Hell on the Battlefield (April 16, 1919)
Over the Top at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (April 17, 1919)