Lorain Man Wins French War Cross – Sept. 1918

I like to celebrate local unsung heroes and veterans on this nostalgia blog, and here’s a good example of a Lorainite who was both. His name was Edward G. Stebbins, and prior to World War I, he was an electrician at National Tube.

But it was in the war that he really distinguished himself, winning the French Croix de Guerre (or for those who you who didn’t take French – the cross of war.

As described in “A History of the 1st U. S. Engineers, 1st U. S. Division” (1919), Stebbins "was a member of a working party caught in a heavy barrage; regardless of personal danger he assisted in carrying wounded comrades through the barrage to safety and then returned in order to carry out other men.”

He was also awarded the Silver Star Citation.

Here’s the story (below) as it appeared on the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald on September 6, 1918.

It's appropriate since Veterans Day is this weekend. The Nov. 11th holiday originally commemorated (as Armistice Day) the end of World War I.

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LORAIN MAN WINS
FRENCH WAR CROSS

Edward G. Stebbins, former employe of the National Tube Co. is probably the first Lorain man to receive the French Croix de Guerre or cross of war. He was also promoted to be a corporal and received his honors for valiant service on the battlefield.

Corporal Stebbins enlisted in the railroad engineers and is a member of Company B first railway engineers. He has been in France a year and now wears two service bars, one for each six months of service in the war zone. He says:

“I am the proud wearer of a Croix de Guerre. I am sending the citation home. It is written in French.

“I suppose you have read of the good work the “boys” are doing and it is the truth. I can tell of some wonderful work I have seen done and only hope I can have a chance to tell about it some day.”

Corporal Stebbins says he craves cake all the time. He says the soldiers are well fed but they have a desire for home meals.

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On that same page of the Times Herald just below the article about Edward Stebbins, there is an account of a Vermilion soldier, Allan Darby, whose death in the war had been erroneously reported to his parents. Happily, it was in error.

Apparently he had been picked up on the battlefield and assumed dead – but he recovered. It was his letter to his parents, dated after the report of his death, that convinced them.