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Home Town Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Last Address Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Buried at Bethel Cemetery, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Date of Passing Oct 16, 1975
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Pvt. Edward T. Colteryahn, 2663811, Company M, 320th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division.Wounded in Action on 11 October 1918 by a gun shot wound to his left wrist.Born on 1 April 1894, he entered the service on 1 April 1918 from Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
Pvt. Colteryahn served overseas from 10 June 1918 until 7 March 1919.He fought at Bethincourt and the Meuse River during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.The 320th Infantry Regiment fought during the entire Meuse-Argonne Offensive, leading the assault on Bethincourt along with the 319th Infantry Regiment on 26 September 1918.The American infantry advanced toward the town, which had been flattened.The Germans melted away until the early morning fog lifted from the battlefield and then they opened fire on the Doughboys with machineguns, artillery and strafing airplanes.The 80th Infantry Division advanced 4 miles by dusk, and had already not sleep for over 60 hours.The 80th Infantry Division continued to advance on 27 and 28 September, advancing to the Bois de la Cote Lemont without major problems.Fighting picked up in the woods of La Cote Lemont and by 4 October, the 80th Infantry Division had suffered 1,824 casualties between 4 and 10 October.German gas was so heavy that the Americans had to wear gas masks almost the entire time, even while sleeping.
On 11 October, the 320th Infantry Regiment prepared for a 7 AM attack against the German defenses.At that moment, a German counter barrage hit the regiment and "butchered the Doughboys until the dead lay in heaps."The 319th Infantry shattered so badly that cooks, clerks and quartermasters had to pick up a rifle and hold the line.Pvt. Colteryahn was shot in his left wrist during this day.His records are unclear, but its possible that he did not receive medical care until 13 October.
He received his Purple Heart on 3 April 1944. He died in October 1975 in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
The 80th Division was first organized August 5, 1917 in the National Army and headquartered at Camp Lee (now known as Fort Lee), Virginia. The Division originally consisted of men mostly from Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia and was nicknamed the "Blue Ridge Division." The unit's distinctive insignia was adopted in 1918 and consists of three blue mountain peaks representing the Blue Ridge Mountains in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The Division also adopted the Latin Motto, "Vis Montium" or "Strength of the Mountains."
In World War I, the 80th Division reached full strength with 23,000 soldiers and sailed to France, landing on June 8, 1918. The 80th Division trained with the British Third Army and joined forces on the front lines near the Artois sector with heavy action in the Somme Offensive of 1918 and in the Meuse-Argonne. The 80th returned to the States in May 1919 and was inactivated at Camp Lee on June 26, 1919.
The Division of Unique Distinction - never failed to gain its objective. It was the only A.E.F. Division called upon three times in the great Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The 80th was ranked first of all National Army Divisions by the War Department. It always led and captured two Huns for every man wounded. The 80th accomplished these results of vast importance to the success of the general operations with a far smaller percentage of casualties than any other division engaged.
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