Private James R. Scoden of Company I, 108th Infantry, was killed in action by a machine gun bullet in the drive which broke the Hindenburg line. He was hit in the heart in the morning of the last Sunday of September as he lay in a shell hole with Sergeant Hans A. Benson, who was wounded and afterwards lost his right arm through amputation.Scowden and Benson were in a shell hole, waiting for the smoke barrage to lift so they could go forward. Suddenly, a German machine gun opened fire. Benson was hit by a dum-dum bullet in the shoulder and it followed down the arm, blowing the member to pieces.
At about the same time, Scowden was hit through the heart, dying instantly. Benson was in the shell hole with the body all day Sunday and all night Sunday night, while a cold rain fell. Olean boys were hit right and left, he wrote.
Scowden was formerly a trainman in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad. His home was in Colgrove Pa. He Joined Company I just before it went to the Mexican border. He spent the summer of 1916 on the border, and was later mustered in with the company when war with Germany was declared. He was trained with Company I in Camp Wadsworth, Spartenburg, S.C., last winter and went overseas in May.
Provided courtesy of Susan Edmonds
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