April 7
1945
Volume XII
Number 45
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Entered u second-elan matter. June 1, 1033, at the PostofUce at Raleigh, North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1870.
Sgt. Ed. Halyburton
Only meagre notice was given in the press
of his recent death, hut he was one the out¬
standing heroes of World War 1: the first
Aintkrican captured by the Germans.
SOME of the newspapers car¬
ried a little item recently in
connection with the death of
Ed Halyburton. He passed away
in California where he had been
making his home for some time.
Many people probably read the
item with a vague recollection of
having heard of Halyburton be¬
fore. Some of them may have re¬
called that he was a veteran of
World War I. Others may have
said to themselves: “Let’s see: he
was some kind of a hero. I believe,
but I’ve forgotten exactly what it
was that he did."
That’s the way with life.
You're a hero one day; forgotten
the next.
Sergeant Ed Halyburton was one
of North Carolina’s outstanding
heroes in the last war. lie was a
native of Taylorsville, up in
Alexander County. Back in 1932
Liberty magazine carried a series
of ten articles about his war experi¬
ences. "Shoot and Be Damned!”
was the somewhat blood-and-
thunder title.
Captured in November 1917
He was captured by the Germans
in November 1917. and was re¬
leased in December 1918, after the
close of the war. During the time
of his captivity, Halyburton took
upon himself the almost impossible
duty of maintaining military dis¬
cipline among the American
prisoners in the camps where he
was confined.
He began working with seven or
eight badly wounded, nerve-
wrecked men. herded like cattle
into infested cells. At the end of
the war he found himself in com¬
mand of several thousand soldiers,
with a definite organization, re¬
spectable living quarters, decent
food and clothing, and enough
spunk and spirit to even publish
a comic camp newspaper.
During those thirteen months.
Ed Halyburton had lived a life¬
time. Harnessed to a crude wagon,
clad in nondescript rags and ill-
fitting wooden shoes, his hands pro¬
tected from the sub-zero tempera¬
ture only by a few' layers of paper,
he had staggered through the snow,
hauling wood into the German
camp. Tortured by hunger until his
brain almost gave way. even his
few hours of restless sleep were
disturbed by cannibalistic night¬
mares. He had watched Russian
prisoners freeze to death and drop
in their tracks. He had seen human
wrecks wallowing in the ice. fight¬
ing savagely over scraps of dirty
potato-peelings. But this great
soldier— the first American to be
captured by the Germans in the
war — never faltered; never gave
up. He clung desperately to his
purpose of commanding respect
from his captors toward the dough¬
boys whose emergency commander
he had become. From the Germans
he stubbornly and persistently de¬
THE COVER PICTURE
A quiet, beautiful farm val¬
ley in Alleghany County. The
picture was taken by the De¬
partment of Conservation and
Development from the Blue
Ridge Parkway. The Parkway
isn’t much used by tourists at
the present time, but it will
come into its own after the
war.
manded consideration; from his
own men he demanded cleanliness
of body and clothing, courage and
good sportsmanship.
When Red Cross provisions
finally arrived at camp, Halyburton
took them in charge and divided
them equally among the men.
Much later, when a few uniforms
were forthcoming, he and his com¬
mittee distributed the breeches,
shoes and underwear to the pri¬
vates who had to work, and the hats
and coots to the non-commissioned
ofiicers. Whenever his authority
was challenged, he did not hesi¬
tate to assert it with his fists. He
fully realized that only in union
and organization was there any
hope for the prisoners.
Tempted by Bribes
Toward the end of the war, when
the Carolina sergeant’s strength
was recognized by his captors, he
was often tempted by bribes of
freedom and luxury to desert to
the enemy, or even just to allow
pro-German propaganda to be dis¬
tributed in camp. But in this battle,
too, he was victorious.
He saw- practically no active
duty on the battle-front, because
he was taken prisoner shortly
after going into action the first
time. Despite this fact, however,
he came out of the war as one of
the outstanding heroes of the great
conflict.
After the war, he was awarded
the Distinguished Service Medal,
and General Pershing w-rote him a
personal letter of thanks.
Eld Halyburton is dead, but North
Carolina should never permit the
memory of his brave deeds to be
forgotten.
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