I think it is the fact that we just recently remembered those who lost their lives during military service on Memorial Day that led me to tell the story of Walter Weber. This will likely be a short story because Walter was one of those men who was killed in action at a very young age while serving his country. He was killed before he had the chance to get married and have children, like so many other stories that are told on this blog.

Walther Emanuel August Weber was born on June 1, 1895, so he qualifies to be today’s birthday boy. If he was still alive, he would be celebrating his 129th birthday today. Walter was the firstborn child of Charles and Emma (Ziegler) Weber. A previous post was written about Walter’s parents titled, Husband and Wife Both Born in 1870 & Died in 1946. Walter was even mentioned briefly in that article. I will point out that Walter’s father, Charles, had his roots in Perry County, Missouri, but had become a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois in 1892, just prior to him getting married in 1894. Walter was baptized at Christ, Jacob, and we can view his baptism record below in the 2 images below.

It is a bit surprising that we find the Walter in his first census entry because his family was living in Cape Girardeau, Missouri when the 1900 census was taken. Here is what is puzzling. A Weber child was born in 1899 and baptized in Jacob. Their next child, born in 1901, was also baptized in Jacob. Yet in the intervening year, this family was living in Cape Girardeau. Either they lived there for just a very short time, or the Weber’s retained their membership at Christ Lutheran and traveled back there for baptisms. In the 1900 census entry shown here, Walter was 5 years old, and his father was a teamster. All 3 of the Weber children are listed as being born in Illinois.

A note in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob says that this Weber family moved to Murphysboro in 1907. It is in that city where we find them living when the 1910 census was taken. Walter was a teenager, and his father was a farmer. There were 6 children in the household, all sons. The youngest, Oscar, had a twin brother that died right away. Again, we see that none of the children were born in Missouri. All of them are said to be born in Illinois.

Walter had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. Walter is given a Murphysboro address, but he was employed in Carver County as a drain tile contractor. This form was signed by an auditor in Carver County, Minnesota. We have a daughter living in Carver County, Minnesota, so I know exactly where that is. I also know that Carver County has a large population of German Lutherans.

Walter was called into service during that war. Although I cannot determine a year’s date on the transport form I will display below, I believe Walter was taken off to active duty overseas in 1918.

As you can see on the form below, the ship on which Walter was taken overseas was the Beltana. The ship left Boston, Massachusetts on July 24th. I believe the Beltana was an Australian ship.

I located this photo of the ship, Beltana.

If Walter left the United States in July of 1918, it was just 2 months later that he was killed in action. He died on September 12, 1918. His death is documented on a list of Illinois soldiers who were killed in action during that war.

Walter’s body must have been transported back to Murphysboro at some point in time. He is buried in the Tower Grove Cemetery in Murphysboro. He is buried in a family plot including other members of this Weber family. There is an apparent mistake made on his gravestone. It gives him a middle initial of B, despite other documents that say he was called Walter A. Weber. This also is not in agreement with the name on his baptism record.

Walter A. Weber’s life was cut short by war. His parents both died in 1946, so they had to live with the memory of losing their son to the horrors of war for a lot of years. Plenty of young men have died while serving their country in the military. World War I was one of the wars that had numerous American casualties. There is a good reason why we have a day set aside on our calendar to honor men like Walter A. Weber. It is not a holiday to “celebrate”. It’s more a holiday of remembrance and honor.