Edward F. Ecker
August 9, 1887 - September 5, 1950

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​Edward Ecker was born to parents Frank and Mary (Bender) Ecker in August of 1887 in Bushnell, South Dakota. Frank and Mary raised Edward and his siblings Julia, Lizzie, Paul and John on their family farm. By the time Edward was was signing up for the draft (age 29) he was still living in the Bushell\White are was farming.

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Edward signed up for the draft on June 5, 1917 and the Brookings Register on August 30, 1917  reported that he was on the list of names to receive the next call for service. Pvt.Ecker was aboard the Elpenor when it sailed May 11, 1918 as part of Co C 114 Machine Gun BN 59th Brigade 30th Division from the port of New York, NY. He is then boarded to the USS Finland to return to Newport News, Virginia (leaving from Saint Nazaire, France) on March 10, 1919 - as part of the 30th Division, Camp Funston Detachment, 114th Machine Gun BN.

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After the war, Edward (34) returned to the Bushnell area and was soon married to 40 year old Miss Mary E. Blakely of Brookings. In the news write up, Edward is described as ..."a young man of industrious habits and of good promise." Mary was a teacher and considered one of the "...most competent and successful teachers in Brookings County." They made their home in the Bushnell area and by 1930, the Census shows Edward as head of household, Mary, Marie (mother) and John (brother) all living under the same roof. Unfortunately, on September 4, 1936, Mary passed away and was interred in Greenwood Cemetery (Brookings, SD). A couple years later, Edward (51) married Dora Kienast (age 34) on November 28, 1938. They were married until Edwards death on September 5, 1950.

 

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30th Division

The major operations the 30th Division took part in were the Ypres-Lys, and the Somme offensive, in which it was one of the two American divisions assigned to the Fourth British Army that broke the Hindenburg Line on September 29, 1918. The Thirtieth Division broke through on its entire front, taking Bellicourt and part of Nauroy by noon of the 29th. The Australian 5th Division, coming up at this time, continued the attack with elements of the 30th division.The division had, in three months, from July until October 1918, sustained 1,237 officers and men killed in action (KIA), with a further 7,178 wounded in action (WIA) or missing in action (MIA).

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​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

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