MEDAL OF HONOR

Forgotten Hero: Charles Denver Barger

By Pete Mecca

Most Americans believe that Sgt. Alvin York of Pall Mall, Tenn., was the most decorated American soldier of The Great War, better known as WWI. Indeed, York was a national hero and a man of extraordinary courage; his feats in combat were certainly worthy of his various decorations, including the Medal of Honor. The 1941 film, “Sergeant York,” starring Gary Cooper, was the highest-grossing movie that year plus made Sergeant York a household name for the second time to new generations of Americans.

Nonetheless, the most decorated American soldier of WWI was born into the notorious Staffelbach gang from Galena, Kan., in 1892. His mother ran a house of ill-repute out of her home, and several grown sons, all of whom were disreputable characters, were in and out of trouble for a variety of petty crimes. By the time the baby boy, Charles, turned five years old in 1897, his father and two older brothers were arrested for the murder of a disruptive and a bit too persistent gentleman caller who kept demanding his ‘special girl’ in the wee hours of the morning.

Unable to manage family concerns, the mother gave up Charles for adoption. He did not see her again until after WWI. Charles was eventually adopted by Sidney and Phoebe Barger of Scotts City, Missouri, took their last name, and worked as a farmhand.

Charles D. Barger enlisted in the United States Army on April 1, 1918. He earned the Expert Rifleman Badge during basic and was eventually assigned to Company L, 354th Infantry Regiment, 89th Division. Arriving in France in June of 1918, Barger gained a promotion to private first class and due to his marksmanship was selected as an automatic rifle gunner. He fought bravely during the St. Mihiel Offensive but really proved his mettle in the famous Meuse-Argonne Offensive. A week-long German bombardment of high-explosive shells and mustard gas sent numerous American doughboys into hospitals and/or required medical care. The gas fumes lingered for days on end. No one escaped the effects, yet Barger never reported for any type of medical treatment.

On Oct. 31, 1918, his regiment sent out numerous patrols in broad daylight (a questionable tactic) into no man’s land to reconnoiter the German positions. Two patrols were quickly pinned down by heavy rifle and machine gun fire, leaving two officers seriously wounded. Another soldier managed to crawl back to Allied lines to report that the officers were trapped in no man’s land. No man’s land meant exactly that, neither side controlled the area yet had guns and artillery zeroed in on the barren ground. Darkness gave limited concealment; daylight turned no man’s land into a killing field.

Nevertheless, Barger and Pfc Jesse Funk volunteered to run the 500 yards through no man’s land to rescue the two officers. They also discovered a wounded enlisted man about 50 yards from a German machine gun nest. The two intrepid doughboys made three trips into the killing field to rescue their three seriously wounded brothers. That they survived one trip is unbelievable but to survive three trips into no man’s land is nothing short of a miracle. In February, 1919, General John Pershing presented Barger and Funk with the Medal of Honor. In total, by the end of WWI, Charles D. Barger was awarded the Purple Heart 10 times for different wounds suffered during combat.

In an interview after the war, Jesse Funk said of Barger, “Then there was Charlie Barger. He came from down at Scotts City, Mo., and he’d never had much of a chance in life. He was an automatic Chauchat gunner; I was his carrier, and I used to write letters for him and got to know him pretty well. He was scared, too, just as badly scared as any of us, but he had the grit to put it all behind him, and what was more, he’d force it down so far that he could cheer up the other fellows. Believe me, he sure had grit, and I’m proud to have been the running mate of a man that had as much fight in him as he had.”

Barger returned to farming after the war, worked construction for a short time, but had trouble making a living and struggled to stay employed. The American Legion helped Barger find jobs, but as the public gradually became apathetic the “national hero” mentioned as part of an introduction or consideration for a job fell on mute ears. Despondent, Barger rejoined the Army as a machine gunner on Jan. 10, 1921. Within six months the Army permanently discharged the “national hero.”

Barger had one short-lived marriage before marrying his second wife, a union which produced two children, but a wife and kids couldn’t erase WWI and the nightmares he carried with him.

In January 1922, he was hired as a police officer in Kansas City. The next month Barger and another officer were dispatched to arrest two men for bootlegging and suspicion of murder. The suspects decided to shoot it out with the officers. The other officer was hit and went down. Barger was hit five times, in his left wrist, right arm, chest and head. He still returned fire. One suspect was hit in the abdomen and the other criminal was hit three times. One would die from his injuries.

Although Barger recovered from his injuries, a head wound, 10 Purple Hearts, the effects of mustard gas, and PTSD began to take a toll on his mental and physical health. He held out as a police officer for 12 more years until he was dismissed with no pension or any sort of compensation.

Barger worked odd jobs for the next few years, did what he had to do to make ends meet and feed the family, but finally had to accept something he never wanted, charity, from the American Legion and VFW, the only two organizations that stuck with him through the years. Barger once stated, “It’s fine to have all the medals, but the trouble is you can’t eat them.”

During the spring of 1936, Barger moved to a farm near Kansas City and started working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Blue Springs. County police were called to his home the night of Nov. 23. Barger was brandishing a large hunting knife and torching his farmhouse. He had self-inflicted wounds to his throat, his clothing was torn, and his body was seriously burned in dozens of places. The officers attempted to arrest Barger for threatening to kill his wife. He resisted, then lunged at the two officers with the hunting knife. A deputy fired in self-defense, hitting Barger in his right thigh. Rushed to Kansas City General Hospital, the third-degree burns to his face and arms took his life two days later. Barger was buried near his home.

This soldier, this “national hero,” endured on his own, fought his demons alone, lived WWI every day of his life, and no veteran of war could deny his mental and physical breakdown resulted from the devastating physical and mental impact of war on the mind and the soul. Veteran organizations began a lengthy fight for Barger’s benefits to help his impoverished family, they tried to persuade the government that sent him to war that Barger’s life was changed forever by that war, but all their endeavors proved futile. The government’s refusal echoes the refusals of today: There was no “proof” that his suffering was connected with his service. Medal of Honor recipient Pfc. Charles Barger, recipient of 10 Purple Hearts, still remains a name and a case number.

Pfc. Charles Barger was not cut from the same mold as Sergeant Alvin York. No movie told his story, after the war nobody knew his name. His life was as tragic as his childhood, a child most likely abused, mishandled, and misunderstood. He came from the wrong side of the tracks, but found the right path through the killing field of no man’s land to rescue officers more blessed in life than the son of a woman who ran a house of prostitution.

An abbreviated version of Matthew 7:2 – “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.” The verse means little in today’s society when those that judge are unqualified and lacking the ability to objectively judge anyone. Judged by wealth, status, home runs, touchdowns, race, creed, or color remains a scourge in today’s environment, but soldiers don’t “judge” on a battlefield. They rely on training, dedication, and the soldier covering their six.

Yes, the soldiers who make it home are the lucky ones, yet when one takes into account the life of veterans like Pfc. Charles Barger, some veterans are not as lucky as others. God bless the unlucky.

Clayton (Ga.) News-Daily, May 16, 2022