Langdon (Merrill) Laws Ricketts
Background
When deciding on what to name me, my parents knew I was destined for greatness. As such, they chose to name me after great people. My first name, Merrill, comes from Merrill Laws Ricketts who is my Great Grandfather’s Cousin on my Dad’s side. Barton comes from Barton Heard Siebers who is my Grandfather on my Mom’s side. While I could easily write an entire book on my Grandfather Barton, this post is focusing on Merrill Laws Ricketts.
Merrill Laws Ricketts was born on September 24, 1893 to Benjamin Merrill Ricketts and Elizabeth Laws in Proctorville, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University in 1916 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in Cincinnati on July 20, 1917. He was promoted to Corporal on December 7, 1917 and deployed to France with the American Expeditionary Forces on December 31, 1917. He was killed in the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge on October 4, 1918, six weeks before the end of the war. Merrill was 25 at the time of his death and he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
Merrill was a member of the 18th company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. Merrill’s regiment was part of the 2nd Division A.E.F Fourth Marine Brigade
The 2nd Batallion, 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. Today, it is the most highly decorated battalion in the Marine Corps and their motto is “Retreat, Hell”. This comes from the French trenches of World War 1, when a Marine officer named Lloyd W. Williams was advised by a French officer to retreat and replied, “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!”
Planning My Pilgrimage
The day before I left the U.S. my Dad called me into his office asking to speak with me. Immediately I thought, uh oh, what did I do wrong as my Dad is a serious person and doesn’t waste his time on things that he doesn’t think are important. As I entered, he handed me a packet of about five pieces of paper and told me to sit down. He then proceeded to tell me the story of Merrill Laws Ricketts, where he died, where he was buried, and how he had outlined it all in this packet of papers. He was assigning me the task of being the first Ricketts family member to visit the grave of Merrill. As I left his office, it was very clear to me that I could not leave France without visiting Merrill's grave or I would never be forgiven.
So once again as the perfect daughter that I am, I started to do some research on how on earth I was going to get to these two places. The site where Merrill was killed is around 50 km outside of Reims, France and the Meuse Argonne Cemetery is about an hour farther. To make things more complicated, I really didn’t know exactly where he was killed and all I had was this letter sent from Private Joseph Ducey to Merrill’s father:
“Sir on October 11, 1918 I was put in charge of a salvage detail to go over the battle fields and while on this detail I saw 13 bodies laying in a row ready to be buried and while glancing over them I saw a letter laying on one breast so I look and it was Cpl. L.L Ricketts 18th Co. 5th Reg. USMC. A few days before that (probably Oct 3 or 4) while advancing, Langdon got hit in the leg by a machine gun bullet. I being close gave him first aid and he started for the first aid station which as I can recollect at that time was 2 or 3 miles in the rear of us. From what I saw the Germans must have seen him going down the road and opened up with machine guns on him and he got to the side of the road but a big shell must have busted and that is the way he met his death. There was 13 of them put in the same hole I think for they had a trench about 15 feet long and the dead were all laying side by side the place as I can recollect was about 3 miles from Somme Py on the left hand side of the road and there was a small clump of trees right close. I understand they were all buried in one cemetery.”
So, based on the letter I needed to find a small clump of trees along a road in the middle of the countryside. That seemed easy…not. After some thinking, I felt my best transportation options to get to the two sites were:
1. Hire a driver
2. Rent a car
3. Go on a tour that specialized in this area and hopefully they would let me wander around while on the tour.
So first, I tried to contact some private car services. None of them were helpful and I quickly realized to have a driver for a full day was going to be very costly. Then, I looked into taking the train to Reims and renting a car. From my Normandy post, you will know how that turned out – I can’t drive a manual car. And lastly I tried to book a tour that specialized in the Meuse-Argonne campaign and included a visit to the Meuse-Argonne cemetery. Once I booked it, I sent an email to the tour provider asking if we could visit the battle site of Blanc Mont Ridge. This was quickly shutdown and just as quickly I cancelled my tour. So I was back at the beginning and I was forced to randomly Google phrases about Blanc Mont Ridge. Somehow, miraculously, I landed on the Frommer’s website which included a list of private tour guides that specialized in literally every WW1 battle that you could imagine. And that is where I found my guy – Frederic. Emailing him quickly, I explained what I wanted to do and he got back to me right away. We hashed out the price and the itinerary and set a date for August 7, 2018.
Visitation Day
Frederic picked me up from the Reims train station on legitimately the hottest day of the year (it was 98 degrees- insert Nick Lachey reference) and we headed straight to the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge. When we approached Sommepy, I was shocked by how small the little village was – it was no more than a cluster of houses. Arriving at the start of the road from Sommepy to Saint-Etienne, it was immediately clear to me what was the Blanc Mont Ridge. This area of the Champagne region is all rolling farmland but Blanc Mont is clearly the summit of this area and is today marked by the Sommepy American Monument. From the letter, Frederic and I knew that Merrill was killed along the road from Sommepy to Saint-Etienne on October 4. The distance from Sommepy to Saint-Etienne is about 9 km and the Blanc Mont Ridge is 4 km from Sommepy. Here is a little bit of background to give you context on Merrill’s path leading up to his death.
Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge
As the Blanc Mont Ridge was so prominent, it was essential for the German Army to maintain their position atop the ridge. Since early in the war, Blanc Mont had been occupied by the Germans. The Germans had successfully defeated French offensives that were trying to take back Blanc Mont in both the Spring and Fall of 1915. From the top of the ridge, the Germans had a clear 360 view of the surrounding area for many miles. This made it the ideal position for the Germans to defend their occupation of the Champagne region.
In the early morning of October 3, 1918, Allied troops led by French Major General John Lejeune began their assault on Blanc Mont Ridge. That morning, the American troops of the 2nd Division (Merrill’s Division) were divided between the left and right side of the road that led from Sommepy to Saint-Etienne and were joined by the US 36th Division and the French 4th Army. On the left side, stood the 2nd Division Fourth Brigade’s 6th Marine Regiment who was followed by the 5th Marine Regiment (Merrill's Regiment). On the right side of the road, stood the 2nd Division's 3rd Brigade. The plan was for the Allied troops to head toward Blanc Mont and continuous artillery fire would help protect them from the German forces positioned on top of Blanc Mont.
After a bloody, but successful, two-hour initial assault in the morning of October 3rd, the Allied forces had commandeered Blanc Mont and the Germans had retreated to the small town of Saint-Etienne, a village almost two miles northwest of Blanc Mont. This town was a German strongpoint and they had a machine gun located there. On October 3rd, the Allied forces pressed forward from Blanc Mont toward Saint-Etienne and were eventually able to capture the village on October 8th. It was during this assault that Merrill was killed.
In the Battle of Blanc Mont, over 7,800 American soldiers were killed or wounded. Many historians believe that what happened there was the greatest single achievement of the 1918 campaign.
My Observations
Taking the road from Blanc Mont Ridge down to Saint-Etienne, it was apparent that the Allied forces making this journey were sitting ducks as there was no natural protection from the German’s machine gun that was located in Saint-Etienne. From our short drive, Frederic and I were able to estimate where Merrill was wounded and killed. Because we know he was a member of the 5th regiment, he would have been advancing toward Saint-Etienne on the left side of the road. From the map shown in the pictures below, we also know where the Marines were located on October 4th, the day Merrill was killed. Although there were no clumps of trees as recorded in the letter, Frederic and I concluded that Merrill was probably killed about halfway between Blanc Mont and Saint-Etienne.
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery is a 130-acre World War I American Cemetery. It is located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon in Meuse and the cemetery contains the largest number of Americans killed in Europe. Over 15,000 American soldiers are buried there. Just like the Normandy American Cemetery, the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery is beautiful and very well maintained. I personally thought the buildings and monuments at the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery were prettier than those at Normandy but unlike Normandy, this cemetery has significantly less visitors.
When we arrived, Frederic took me to the main office and introduced me to the staff, telling them I was a kin of one of the soldiers buried there. One of the staff members was then kind enough to drive us to Merrill’s grave marker location.
When I saw his grave, I began to tear up. Before visiting the cemetery, I hadn't given much thought to how I would react to seeing his grave but it turned out to be a very emotional experience. For me, it was hard to grasp that 100 years ago, my family member, who was younger than me at the time of his death, had been killed in war far from his homeland and was buried in a foreign place. A place that no one in his family has ever been able to visit.
After the war, families of fallen soldiers had to choose between repatriation and an overseas burial. I can only imagine what a terrible decision this was for families to make. Having experienced the death of a loved one so recently, I know that I find comfort in visiting his grave regularly. I cannot imagine the pain that I would feel if I was not able to do this.
In conclusion, I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to make this journey to see Merrill’s grave and know that this trip will always hold a special place in my heart.
