Merle R. Sweet of Glennie, Mich., entered military service in 1917 and was assigned to Company C of the 107th Engineer Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division. After basic training, his unit shipped off to France in the spring of 1917. Once there, the 107th Engineer Regiment’s first task was to construct pre-fabricated barracks to house the American Expeditionary Force.
Building Barricades
According to a newspaper interview of Sweet after the war, he and his fellow engineers had to do all the digging themselves with pick, shovel, axe and wheelbarrow. He said he saw his first action in northeastern France when his unit had to lay down barbed wire barricades in the area of Alsace-Lorraine. This area was a strip of land that juts into Germany and was one of the biggest prizes being contested in the war. Sweet's unit put up the barbed wire entanglements and were told that this was as far as the enemy was going to get. He said that he still could remember driving the stakes into the ground with a maul so they could wrap the wire around them. It was very hard work.
The Fortunate Ones
Sweet recalled that his unit was one of the fortunate ones that never encountered gas warfare. With deadly mustard gas being sprayed across the trenches into “No Man's Land,” it was imperative for soldiers to wear the bug-eyed gas masks that made them look like aliens. He recalled that he had to have his gas mask with him at all times due to the constant threat of gas warfare.
Action on the Rhine
During Sweet's time overseas, his unit stayed busy laying additional barbed wire, building defense fortifications, and repairing wrecked bridges, as well as other projects to support the 32nd Division. His unit saw action in a number of battles, and he finally ended up serving guard duty in a number of small towns along the Rhine river after the Armistice that ended World War I was signed. After the war, Sweet returned to the family farm in Alcona County, and later relocated to Bay County. He remained a very patriotic man throughout his life, attending Memorial Day veterans events right into his 90s.
Our Collection
The Michigan Traveling Military Museum is pleased to have and display the Pvt. Merle R. Sweet Company C 107th Engineer Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division grouping. It is a fitting tribute to a proud veteran of World War I.
