Summary Information
Edmund P. Arpin Papers
1917-1926, 1956
Micro 16; SC 525
0.1 c.f. (1 folder) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Correspondence, notebooks, and other items concerning the World War service and travels through France and Germany of Edmund P. Arpin, 128th Infantry, 32nd Division. Several letters concern events of 1918 for which Arpin received the Distinguished Service Cross in 1921. One 1956 letter from Arpin concerns his recollections of “Indian Jeff,” an old-time river lumber rafter. Several undated essays and recollections by unknown writers concern the Arpin family, Francis X. Biron, John A. Gaynor, and the history of Wood County, Wisconsin
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0016 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Within a month of United States entry into World War I, Edmund P. Arpin of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, volunteered for the Army. He landed in France, December 31, 1917, and spent the first half of 1918 in routine training and mop-up operations far from the front line. As Allied need of troops increased however, he was shifted to Company F of the 128th Infantry, Thirty-second Division, and moved into the areas of heaviest fighting. He participated in the Aisne-Marne offensive at Cierges and Fismes, in the Oisne-Aisne offensive at Juvigny, and in September, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive where he was wounded and for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross. After the Armistice and recovery, he and a friend, trying to catch up to their back paychecks, roamed northern France and occupied Germany in an unauthorized but highly interesting chase. Arpin left France by troop ship on February 15, 1919, and was discharged, March 17.
Scope and Content Note
These papers consist of one microfilm reel and one folder. The microfilm was prepared partially in 1954 and partially in 1968, and then spliced together. Part 1 contains a typescript of Arpin's account of his experiences as a soldier and several letters concerning later medal awards. Part 2 contains two notebooks kept by Arpin describing his experiences; copies of three letters between Arpin and Adjutant General Charles L. Sheridan, 1921; and a Summary of Operations of the Thirty-second Division in the Aisne-Marne offensive.
The unfilmed portion of the papers, 1917-1926, includes promotion certificates; correspondence concerning the Distinguished Service Medal eventually awarded to Arpin and charges that National Guard units were discriminated against in medal awards; and correspondence concerning the American Battle Monuments Commission's research on exact locations of the front lines of American divisions in World War I.
For a published account of Arpin's experiences, the researcher is referred to the Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 51, Nos. 1-3 (1967, Autumn - 1968, Spring), published by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented and loaned for microfilming by Edmund P. Arpin, Neenah, Wisconsin, December, 1954; May and November, 1968.
Processed by Karen J. Baumann, September 29, 1969.
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