| On Nov. 11,
Veterans Day, a floral tribute will be placed at
the gravesite of the late Mess Sergeant Frank H.
Stucker, Company D, 138th U.S. Infantry, 35th
Division, American Expeditionary Forces. The
World War I veteran was a resident of
Collinsville. Stucker was born in 1871 in
Massillon in Stark County, Ohio. He was of German
ancestry and the second of three children born to
Leonard and Elizabeth Stucker. His father worked
as an engineer for a steam traction engine
manufacturer for many years.
Stucker first
gained employment as a typesetter at a publishing
company in Massilon. He remained at this position
for several years. In 1895, he took a sales
position with the American Type Foundry in St.
Louis. He married Harriette Agnes McArthur on
Nov. 4, 1897, in St. Louis.
The couple moved
to Collinsville in 1910 living first at the
Commercial Hotel. They moved to several locations
in town the first few years finally settling in a
small home on St. Louis Road.
Stucker went into
business with A.W. Schimpff in founding the
Adverstiser Press soon after his arrival. They
also opened a job printing plant on West Main and
began publishing the Advertiser Press in March
1911. Stucker sold his interest in the Advertiser
to Schimpff in early September and accepted the
position of editor of the Collinsville Herald on
Sept. 20, 1912.
His wife Harriette
died unexpectedly on January 16, 1916, following
a brief illness. She was buried in St. John's
cemetery in Collinsville. There were no children
born to this union.
He remained as
editor of the Herald until May 1, 1917, when the
Herald was sold by the Collinsville Publishing
Company to James O. Monroe. Upon leaving the
Herald, he returned to his former vocation
accepting a sales position with Barnhardt
Brothers & Spindler of St. Louis type
founders. He was with the firm only a month
before entering the service.
He enlisted as a
mess sergeant in Company D, 138th Infantry,
formerly the First Missouri National Guard, on
July 20, 1917. The regiment was a member unit of
the 35th Division. Stucker had attempted to enter
the service in the officer reserve corps before
enlisting in the National Guard. He was denied
admission because of his age.
He was responsible
for recruiting volunteers in Collinsville during
the early months of 1917. Basic training for the
unit was at Camp Doniphan, Fort Still, Oklahoma.
The unit left for France soon after completing
basic training.
Stucker's unit was
placed near the center of the American lines in
the Verdun Sector of the Western Front in France.
The largest American and final offensive of World
War I known as the Meuse-Argonne Offensive began
on Sept. 26, 1918, in the Verdun Sector.
The 35th Division
began the attack at 5:30 a.m., driving the
Germans back nearly seven miles the first two
days of the offensive. Stucker met his fate the
first day of the offensive.
In a letter
written by First Lieutenant William F. Uthoff ,
Company D, 138th Infantry, to his brother-in-law
Collinsville resident Bernhard Mueller, Uthoff
explains Stucker's death:
"I knew
Stucker very well and was sorry to lose him. He
was a very valuable man to my company, and we all
miss him. Sergt. Stucker had many friends in
Collinsville, and for their benefit I will tell
how it happened.
"It was in
the Argonne the first day of the fight. The
company was dug in as far as it is possible to
dig in under heavy machine gun fire they were
subjected to. Sergt. Stucker was fearless. He
would raise up his head, disregarding the
warnings of his comrades. He raised once too
often. When he raised to pass a can of beef to
one of his comrades, a machine gun bullet passed
through his head, killing him instantly. In his
death company D loses one of its most valuable
men."
Frank Stucker's
final resting place is in the Meuse-Argonne
American Cemetery in Romagne, France.
The Sons of the
American Legion Squadron 365 were instrumental in
researching and funding the floral tribute.
Collinsville World
War I veterans Leighton
Evatt,
Michael
Evanko
and Bernard
Rissi
received floral tributes from the Sons of the
American Legion as well.
The placement of
floral arrangements was done through the American
Battle Monuments Commission. Four new government
markers were also installed for veterans who died
during World War I and interred in Collinsville
cemeteries. The veterans are Ben M. Borgars, Eugene Kohler, Andy Pinson and John J. Snadden.
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