Josef Henrik Karlsson was born on 5 January, 1892, i Nöbbele, Kronoberg, Sweden. Joseph was the third child (of 10) to Johannes Karlsson and Eva Charlotta Johansdotter. In Sweden, Joseph was a farm worker. Josef emigrated to the United States by boat from Gothenburg (steamer Novo/Wilson shipping line) on the 25th November 1912. The first stop was Hull in England. Then he probably went by train to Liverpool where he on the 5th of December 1912 boarded the RMS Baltic/White Star Line (RMS Baltic was one of many ships to send warnings for ice to the RMS Titanic on the 14th of April 1912) for the journey to New York City where he arrived on the 14th of December 1912. An interesting coincidence is that on June 9, 1917 , RMS Baltic transported Major General John J. Pershing and his staff to England, which was the first transport of AEF (American Expeditionary Forces) soldiers to Europe : 56 officers and 128 soldiers who became known as The Baltic Group. Passenger lists show that Josef most likely traveled together with a friend - Josef Gottfrid Gustafsson (20 years old as well) from Linneryd. The passenger lists also state that they are both literate and that they are farm workers. They have both stated that their destination is Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where Josef Karlsson is said to have had a cousin. In 1914 his oldest brother Karl August Karlsson also emigrated to the US and he also went to Chippewa Falls. It is unclear what they worked with and for how long they stayed in Chippewa Falls, but in the spring of 1917 Josef was a farmer in Jordan, Dawson county (current Garfield county) in Montana. He had applied for a ”homestead” in S27-T20N-R39E. It is located just east of Haxby Road and about 16 km (10 miles) north of Highway 200. (8 km (5 miles) east of Jordan and 16 km (10 miles) north). During World War I, three conscription calls were made in the United States. Joseph was part of the first round of registrations, and he has apparently by this time changed the spelling of his name to Joseph Henry Carlson as seen on his registration cards. Joseph then appears to have been enrolled on 18th September 1917 in Glendive, Montana. On his Service card it can be read that he was drafted, ie. not volunteered (”Inducted”). His brother Karl was also drafted later, but was never sent over to France before the war ended. On the 19th of September 1917 Joseph left Glendive, Montana, for basic training at Camp Lewis (American Lake), Tacoma, Washington. From the 21st of September Joseph belonged to 362nd Infantry, Company I, and was part of this unit for at least 1.5 months which was his first military basic training. The 362nd Infantry was formed in September 1917 at Camp Lewis, Washington. Joseph belonged to the second group that arrived at Camp Lewis. Joseph belonged to the 362nd Infantry until November 10, 1917 when he was transferred to the 164th Infantry, Company G, which according to Wikipedia was based in Glendive, Montana. This was the same place he was enrolled in, but it is unclear if he was actually moved there or to another training camp before leaving for Europe. Joseph went to Europe with the 164th Infantry belonging to the 41st Division. This division never fought as a separate unit in France, but its soldiers were used as replacements for other Divisions (1st, 2nd, 32nd and 42nd Divisions) that were already present in France. Joseph went to Europe from Camp Mills, Hoboken, New Jersey, as a Private in Company G 164th Infantry, aboard the troop transport ship USS Leviathan on December 15, 1917. As a close relative, he had stated his father Johannes Carlson in Nobble, Sweden. USS Leviathan was a German ship (Vaterland) and one of 16 ships seized (by the 22nd Infantry) when the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. It was at that time the world's largest ship. The USS Leviathan called at the port of Liverpool on the evening of December 24, 1917. This was the ship's first of 16 voyages across the Atlantic as a troop transport ship. Joseph returned to the port of Liverpool which he had left almost exactly 5 years earlier for the trip over to the USA. 1st Division was ready for service in France on January 7, 1918. On the 12th of January 1918 Joseph was transferred to the 1st Division ("The Big Red One"), 2nd Brigade, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, Company D, which was quite soon after his arrival in France. The first unit of the 41st Division, to which Joseph belonged on the voyage to Europe, arrived in France on 27 December (last unit arrived on 6th February) and the division went to the training area at St. Aignan. The first week of January 1918 the First Division camped at Mauvages / Menaucourt and this is where Joseph joins the 1st Division, 26th Infantry Regiment. Here, the final training takes place before the takeover of a sector of their own. The First Brigade leaves this area in late January/early February to reach the front in the Toul sector. The Second Brigade (26th & 28th) to which Joseph belongs stays another month. During January and February, the service for Joseph's 1st Battalion consisted of different types of training: shooting, bayonet, gas mask, ordering, trench work, barbed wire, attack drills, etc. When Joseph is transferred to the 1st Battalion on January 12, they consist of about 500 men in total, and the Batallion is not complete (about 1000 men) until the end of April. As early as February 15th, Joseph is promoted to Private First Class (PFC). It is unclear why he is promoted since he had not yet been in battle, but it seems like promotions were also given if someone proved to be a good sniper. Unfortunately, Joseph's military personnel records are no longer available as a large part of the personnel records from 1912-1959 were destroyed in a fire at the National Archives in St. Louis in 1973. In late February, the 26th Infantry pack-up and the 1st of March they are ready to leave the villages Menaucourt , Boviolles and Givrauval which have been their home for five months. On the 3rd of March the 1st & 3rd Battalions takes to the front transported by trucks. The regiment's headquarters is moved to Rambucourt and on March 6, the replacement of the 16th Infantry will be completed. This was considered a "resting sector" by the French. Here the Americans take their first prisoner. The Toul sector was snowy when they arrived, but soon it became sloppy and muddy. After the first week, it became warm and clear. The 1st Division became responsible for its own subsector in the Ansauville Sector, north of Toul near Seicheprey on February 5, 1918, but for Joseph's 1st Battalion it takes until March 3rd before he leaves for the front, and on March 6th they are in position in the trenches. On the morning of May 28, at 06.45, the attack on the French village of Cantigny begins with artillery fire, which is followed up by the infantry attack of the 28th Infantry Regiment. This was the first battle in history in which American soldiers fought as a separate unit. The plan for the attack was drawn up by George C Marshall, who later became Chief of Staff of the United States Army during World War II, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, named the Marshall Plan for Europe, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. At 07:20 all Battalions reported that the objectives of the attack were reached and that the village of Cantigny was captured. This was followed by a number of strong German counterattacks, but the Americans managed to resist. At one point on the evening of May 28, the 28th Infantry, 1st Battalion , was subjected to a powerful German counterattack in its position on the right flank, and heavy losses led to Commander Colonel Ely requesting the replacement of his regiment. Instead, it was agreed that reinforcements would be deployed to strengthen the line and Company C and F of the 18th Infantry arrived first, and then Company D of the 26th Infantry and Company D of the 1st Engineers joined. During this advance to the line, Joseph's company D was shelled with artillery as they made their way through the forest "Bois de Cantigny ". Joseph is injured and taken to a first-aid station where he later dies. In Sweden, Joseph's brother Knut notes in his diary on July 22, 1918, that a letter from France was received announcing that Joseph had been killed in the war. Maybe the family in Sweden already had received the tragic news via his brother Karl who might have seen Joseph's name in local newspapers in Montana already in mid-June. Joseph is buried and then disinterred twice before the final burial site at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, Picardy, about 70 km (43 miles) northeast of Cantigny at the request of his family. Archives in Jordan, Montana, contain Joseph's death certificate and documents showing that his father Johannes let Karl take over the land that belonged to Joseph. (This remarkable research carried out by Joseph's grand nephew Hans Nilsson of Limhamn, Sweden. Joseph's name appears as PFC J. Carlson on the memorial.)