by Susan Couso
The Battle of the Argonne Forest in France was the deadliest battle in American history. It involved 1.2 million American soldiers, and there were over 350,000 casualties. This is the battle where the famous Sergeant York single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 more. For this, York received the Medal of Honor.
Lassen County contributed to this terrifying cause through the efforts of young men like George Shirley Tremain. Tremain was from an old Honey Lake Valley pioneer family and had worked as a surveyor and clerk before the war.
He was an ordinary guy. His draft papers listed him as of medium height and medium build. He was just the regular ‘guy next door’.
But WWI changed all of that. After training at Camp Lewis, Washington, Tremain was shipped out. He left New York for England on July 6th, 1918, and was quickly sent into France with Company L, 362nd INF. Regiment, 91st DIV.
The Argonne Forest was waiting. The 91st Division was on the front lines, and George was one of the first to be shot. He received 38 separate wounds, mostly to his legs, and collapsed on the ruined earth of the forest.
For 12 hours he lay there in an exposed place, smelling the foul smells and hearing the screams and moans and the German machine-gunfire all around him. And then the silence.
No help came for what must have seemed an eternity. And when he was finally rescued, his wounds were deemed to be fatal. But George did not die. Numerous procedures, numerous surgeries, and numerous weeks of care, and he survived. After weeks, hovering near death in France, it was determined that he was strong enough to be sent home.
On April 5th, 1919, he left France on the ship Mercy, and finally arrived at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco. He was really back. For almost a year, the doctors considered amputating both of George’s legs, but he persevered. After many months, he began to walk with crutches, and the crutches assisted him for the rest of his life.
Sometime in 1918 or 1919, George married Katherine Forbes from Butte County, and their marriage lasted for the rest of their lives.
With George’s release from the hospital, he began a new career. This time he operated a mechanical dental laboratory, a career that lasted until just a few months before his death.
In March of 1941, George was back in Letterman Hospital, suffering from a heart attack, and on March 21st, he died. George Shirley Tremain was buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio. Just another ‘guy next door’ who gave so much for his country.
