Zintman 1

Let me introduce myself. My name is Winfred Julius Sorge. I was born on September 20,

1900.1 I was almost 14 when the Great War broke out in Europe. As the United States became

increasingly involved in the conflict and debates arose about whether to enter or how to prepare

for the war, I was still a little young to have to worry about serving. However, as America

entered the war I was beginning to question whether I would have to sign up for the draft or not.

I guess I got lucky that I barely missed the cut. My father and brother, however, have different

stories. My father, Fred Sorge, entered the volunteer army on December 20, 1917. He received

admission as a captain when he volunteered for the 21st Field Artillery division. 2 My brother,

Reinhard, was drafted into the army in August 1918.3 Unlike my father, the war ended too soon

for my brother to serve overseas.4

My father’s parents were born in Germany, and my mother’s parents were born in

Bohemia, which was ruled by the Habsburg Empire.5 My father grew up speaking German and

1
“Winfred J. Sorge in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014,” Ancestry Library, 2014,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Winfred+&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Sorge&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&uidh=zj3&pcat=34&
h=58841968&recoff=11+12&dbid=3693&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1.
2
Roster of Fred Sorge, 1919, Folder 2, Box 2, Rosters of Men in Service, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin:
Brown County War History Committee.
3
Roster of Reinhardt Sorge, 1919, Folder 2, Box 2, Rosters of Men in Service, The State Historical Society of
Wisconsin: Brown County War History Committee, and “Reinhardt L Sorge in the U.S., World War I Draft
Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” Ancestry Library, 2005, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-
bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=reinhard+&gsfn_x=0&gsln=sorge&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&uidh=zj3&pcat=39&h
=27035138&dbid=6482&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2 tell conflicting stories. In Reinhardt’s Men in Service survey, his
mom wrote that he volunteered, rather than was enlisted under the selective Service act. However, he had filled out
a draft card on the first draft day and then entered service over a year later, making it appear that he was, in fact,
drafted.
4
“Roster of Reinhardt Sorge”.
5
“Frederick Sorge in the 1900 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry Library, 2004,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Fred&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Sorge&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Green+Bay%2c+Brown
%2c+Wisconsin%2c+USA&msypn=53135&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=0&uidh=zj3&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=
63553305&dbid=7602&indiv=1&ml_rpos=15.
 Zintman 2

English, and my mother grew up speaking Bohemian and English.6 We were a German-

American family during a war against the Huns of Germany. The people in charge, the people

orchestrating this war, the Huns, were horrible people. This was a horrible war. But my family

is German; we are German people, and that means something completely different than being a

Hun.

My father was born on May 24th, 1866.7 He was 51 when he volunteered to serve. He

was too old to be drafted, and he had a job as a mechanic.8 He was under no obligation to serve

in the war. I could not tell you why he decided to serve. He probably thought I was too young to

understand. Maybe he wanted to prove his patriotism to America, the country he called home

and that had given him and his family great opportunities. Maybe he was disappointed in the

German government and wanted to put an end to the madness. Maybe he felt guilty since my

brother had to register for the draft.

Reinhardt was born in September 15, 1892. At the time of the draft he was a draftsman

for the U.S. Government at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington. 9 He was 24 on the first

6
“Fred Sorge in the 1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry Library, 2006,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Fred&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Sorge&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Green+Bay%2c+Brown
%2c+Wisconsin%2c+USA&msypn=53135&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=0&uidh=zj3&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=
30564290&dbid=7884&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2.
7
“Fred Sorge in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007,” Ancestry Library, 2015,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Fred&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Sorge&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Green+Bay%2c+Brown
%2c+Wisconsin%2c+USA&msypn=53135&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=0&uidh=zj3&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=
11233870&dbid=60901&indiv=1&ml_rpos=17.
8
“Will Move Here,” Green Bay Gazette, Jan 3, 1982. Newspapers.com
9
“Reinhardt L Sorge in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” Ancestry Library, 2005,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=reinhard+&gsfn_x=0&gsln=sorge&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&uidh=zj3&pcat=39&h
=27035138&dbid=6482&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2
 Zintman 3

draft day, June 5, 1917, when he registered for the draft.10 He was perfect for the war; he had no

one who relied on him for support, he was the perfect age, and he was fit.11 However, as his

brother, I was thankful he was not drafted until a couple months before the war ended. He ended

up being stationed in Pullman, Washington from August, 1918- December, 1918, and never left

the country for this war.12

There were many people of German descent in Wisconsin, which made patriotism

complicated. Many German Americans were opposed to the war in the beginning.13 We felt ties

to the country where our families are from, and the people that lived there. Even before the

United States declared war, in March of 1917, Green Bay was putting on a show of patriotism

with a parade.14 This was a huge show to prove the patriotism of this town, since so many of us

had ties to the belligerent countries.15 Many of us realized the war was inevitable, but we

weren’t that enthusiastic about it.16

While my father and, later, my brother were serving and training, I was at home with my

mother, and all of my siblings: Irma, Clyde, May and Vivian.17 Proving our patriotism was a

huge ordeal in Green Bay. Everyone was buying liberty loans to lend their money to the

government.18 We were pressured to do our part for the war effort at home, by doing things like

10
R. B. Pixley, Wisconsin in the World War (Milwaukee: S. E. Tate Printing Company, 1919),186; “Reinhardt L.
Sorge in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.”
11
“Reinhardt L. Sorge in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards,1917-1918.”
12
Ibid.
13
Richard L. Pifer, The Great War Comes to Wisconsin; Sacrifice, Patriotism, and Free Speech in a time of Crisis
(Wisconsin: the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 2017), 59.
14
Ibid.
15
Richard L. Pifer, 37.
16
Richard L. Pifer, 113.
17
“Winfred Sorge in the 1920 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry Library, 2010,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1920usfedcen&indiv=try&h=23635032.
18
Richard L. Pifer, 160.
 Zintman 4

conserving our food and reducing waste.19 My younger siblings even had to take part in patriotic

activities while in school, like learning the Pledge of Allegiance and singing patriotic songs.20

Families of German descent, like mine, were always having to prove our Americanness. The

public was weary to trust us because of the German government.21

It was hard being back here in Green Bay while my father and brother were participating

in the war efforts. Unfortunately, because of the censorship and inconsistency of the newspapers,

letters from my father were some of the only reliable sources about what was going on

overseas.22 However, we only received two letters from my father.23 In August of 1918, he

wrote to us for the first time. He told us he was a material inspector. 24 Basically, he was in

charge of the working conditions of all weaponry at the front. He said this job took him to the

trenches at the front and required him to spend time in no man’s land.25 In that letter he wrote

about a battle where his people took over some small towns and took some prisoners, while 300-

400 men were wounded.26 His job sounded incredibly dangerous and it made me realize just

how deadly this war was. My father was in constant danger.

After reading the first letter from my father, I felt guilty. Here I was sleeping every night

in my home with my mother and siblings, while my old man was on the front lines, surrounded

by small fires and constant noise flashes of gunfire.27 While I slept through the night, he barely

19
Ibid., 131; 134.
20
Ibid., 133-134.
21
Ibid., 126.
22
Ibid., 110.
23
Roster of Fred Sorge.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
 Zintman 5

slept, and when he did, he would still wake up with headaches.28 I was the man of the family

with Reinhardt and my father gone, but compared to them, I felt like I didn’t deserve to be called

a man.

Perhaps you heard of the battle of St. Mihiel Salient. America only fought in WWI for

less than two years, but this battle was one of our great successes. The American troops were

given the mission to remove the German Salient behind St. Mihiel.29 The battle started on

September 12th at 1:00 in the morning with the heaviest artillery barrage ever up until that point,

artillery so heavy it caused the earth to shake.30 In just four days, American troops overtook the

Saint- Mihiel Salient that had troubled the French army for almost four years.31 There was

hardly any pushback from the Germans, because our army was just that strong.32 My father was

injured when he took part in that battle. He suffered from a forearm dislocation and came down

with scabies.33 He wrote his second letter home from the hospital after he was injured. He wrote

about the battle. He said they took thousands of prisoners and hundreds of guns. Our side had

about 10,000 casualties. My father said this battle was like hell breaking loose, and an

earthquake on a 40-kilometer fault.34

28
Ibid.
29
David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society (New York: Oxford University Press,
2004), 191.
30
Roster of Fred Sorge.
31
David M. Kennedy, 193.
32
Ibid., 193-194. The Americans believed this battle showed their superiority on the battlefield, but the French and
British did not agree. It was also later learned that the attack hit the Germans during a planned evacuation, which is
why they did not fight back extremely hard. Kennedy argues that the American troops were unorganized at the
battle lines.
33
“Fred Sorge in the U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939,” Ancestry Library, 2016,
https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-
c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=fred&gsfn_x=0&gsln=sorge&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&uidh=zj3&pcat=39&h=698
8153&dbid=61174&indiv=1&ml_rpos=15.
34
Roster of Fred Sorge.
 Zintman 6

In his second letter my father told us he has souvenirs for us, but he lost them when he

was hurt, and that he was glad he lost them. He was glad because he did not want to look at

souvenirs that would remind him of the terrible war. He said there would be enough souvenirs;

the people who come back to the states will be souvenirs. Many soldiers lost an eye, a leg, an

arm, both hands, or are completely disfigured.35 The physical appearance of the old soldiers

would be all over the country, reminding Americans of the war. He told us about the children of

Belgium, who lost their hands to the swords of the German officers, and the graves in Italy that

were filled with the bodies of children who were killed with poisoned candy made by the Huns.

He told us about the children that were starving in Poland, and the people who died from famine.

He said people were being crucified on the walls of prisons by the Huns, and that young girls

were being forced into slavery.36

My father continued on to write about the end of the war. He did not think we defeated

the Huns. He said they only quit so they could rest and start again some other time, and that they

would laugh about it later, and be proud that they destroyed everything in their path. My father

wrote, “I say with all the heart I have that we should not quit but go to it and hammer him until

he’s wiped off the earth.”37 My father describes the cities and villages that have been

demolishes and all of the destruction across the land, and points out that the German land was

barely touched. He did not believe anyone should be at the peace talks unless they saw the

destruction on the battlefields.38 My father despised the Huns, the people causing and continuing

35
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid.
38
Ibid.
 Zintman 7

the war. He called them beastly animals.39 He did not see any good in these people, and maybe

that is why he decided to enlist.

Ironically enough, I passed away on November 11, 1989.40 I missed out on both world

wars, but I did not pass through without impact. I am so glad I have been able to share the

stories of my father and brother with you.

39
Ibid.
40
“Winfred J. Sorge,” Green Bay Press Gazette, Nov 14, 1989, Newspapers.com.
 Zintman 8

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https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-

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 Zintman 9

Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War and American Society. New York: Oxford

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