Today is Memorial Day in America, and today Spice and I choose to remember somebody who is long gone, but at least in North Missouri he is not forgotten.
The solider we honor died during World War 1, and in a very real sense his story is a lesson that we, as preppers, should remember for more than one reason.
Often the biggest untold story of war has nothing to do with the casualties on the battlefield, which throughout history has often been far outpaced by the number of people who died from disease, hunger, poor hygiene and bad water.
The young man we honor today is one of those men, a soldier who died during his service to America in World War 1… but he didn’t die in the trenches, nor did he die in the Argonne Forrest, he didn’t follow in the footsteps of Alvin York at Chatel Chéhéry or in the blasted hell of the Bellau Wood.
No, our hero… and make no doubt, he WAS a hero… died in a hospital in Kansas during training.
This is Purnell’s story…
Purnell Batts Barnett
Born at Memphis, Mo.
January 20, 1891
Died at base hospital Ft. Riley, Kan.
November 16, 1917 of pneumonia
A soldier in his country’s service
43 Days Co. 59 164 Depot Brigade
World’s War with Germany
Those words were part of an inscription to a memorial that towered over a deserted gravel road in North Missouri for nearly a century.
The memorial was placed in front of the farm where Barnett grew up in rural Scotland County by his heartbroken mother. Here are the words she inscribed as they appear on the memorial.
Barnett
We gave all the child we had
and it broke our hearts
What did you give?
Son of J.F. & M.K. Barnett
He was a great lover of nature
And of all animals
He loved hunting dogs the best
The statue stands on a four-sided base with inscriptions on each side of the base. One one side were the names of the Scotland County soldiers who died in service during the war: Charles G. Boyer, Orin Blain, Fred T. Bradley, Clarence Chancelor, Carry W. Clark, Joseph Crawford, Warren W. Chambers, Byron Dunn, Fred L. Fincher, Ezra W. Hartman, John H. Kerr, Leslie S. Kittle, Carl Leslie, Earnest O. Moyer, Sam Poole, Carl Rosa, Loyd Shelton, Tom Sanders, Harry Snyder, Earl Shinberger, Vern Stone, Nay Harris and Sam Wilson.
Other inscriptions on the memorial are also poignant
The people of France, England,
Italy, Belgium, and Canada
Should have undying love
For U.S. soldiers
Another side of the dais contains information about his mother, in her own words:
Mary Katherine Batts Barnett
Born in Henry Co. Ky. 1869
Died Jan. 28, 1922
I loved my Mo. farm home
and neighbors
Good bye gold star Mothers
And Fathers of World War
Good bye my little children
friends. See that the flag waves
above and that flowers grow
around this memorial
forever. I have gone to meet Purnell
my angel son who is at rest
with God. Friends death alone can
sooth my broken heart. Mothers
I am leaving my home and this park
for a playground for your children.
I first saw this memorial sitting beside this lonely road in the 1980s, when a local told me about it. It took a lot of searching just to find it.
I remember reading the memorial that hot, dusty September afternoon.
There was no park.
There were no flags.
The air was filled not by the scent of flowers but rather by a nearby cattle lot. And yet there he stood, year after year, decade after decade.
I was moved but I life happened and the memorial faded into my memory.
About 15 years later, somebody mentioned if I had ever seen the memorial, and I admitted I had. it reminded me that I wanted to look at it again after all those years, and the next time I was in the county I stopped by.
It was still as moving as it had been the first time.
When we were next in Scotland county, I took Spice out to the memorial and she as well was moved.
Somebody planted perennial flowers at the base of the memorial, and whenever we were in the county we would go out and tend them. We would make sure that a flag flew near the statue, a flag that was not faded and frayed. We would clean up the weeds.
For some of us in the area, Purnell Batts Barnett was not forgotten.
It wasn’t until many years later, after Spice got into learning history, that she made what was a startling discovery, and one that is extremely relevant to preppers.
There’s a very good chance that Purnell was one of the very first human victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic that killed untold millions around the world.
Despite the name, the virulent strains of the flu didn’t start in Spain, but rather in Kansas. It didn’t start in 1918, but rather in 1917. The first big outbreak? Fort Riley.
Spice outlined the details in the story below:
PrepperMed 101: How to not be a statistic in the next great epidemic
In Spice’s own words:
The story of the Spanish Flu is one that keeps infectious disease specialists up at night, because we know it could, very likely WILL, happen again.
Birds, pigs, and humans all share the same influenza viruses. There are many different strains: some easily transmitted among humans and some not; some highly deadly and some mostly just annoying.
Strains are mutating all the time, and every year there are new combinations. The Spanish Flu was one of the nightmare combinations: Highly deadly, easily transmitted, and different enough that people’s immune systems were unprepared to deal with it effectively.
The concern is that, statistically speaking, another such ‘killer combo’ is very likely to recur. Normal seasonal flu vaccines won’t stop such a germ, and we don’t yet have a universal flu vaccine or any other really effective treatment once someone gets the flu.
The Spanish Flu’s impact was magnified by the congregation and then dispersal of infected people (soldiers in that case) throughout the world, which closely resembles the congregation and dispersal of people through international air travel today.
For these reasons, I consider a pandemic and deadly flu is one of the most likely ‘very bad scenarios’ in the prepping world.
Does the Solider In The Field still stand, guarding his country home?
Yes and no.
They say that all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately about five years ago somebody vandalized Purnell’s memorial and the head was knocked off.
It wasn’t the first time that the memorial was vandalized, as all the pictures that were attached to it had long-since been removed.
Fortunately, the head was recovered by members of the Scotland County Historical Society, and held in storage until such time as the statue could be repaired.
Recently, friends of the organization took the statue down and moved it into town, where it now stands protected and in a place where many more people will see it.
I haven’t been out to Purnell’s farm since it was moved, so I don’t know if anything remains, and while I think it’s good that the memorial is now protected, it’s sad that it had to be moved.
The memorial was never a tombstone for the Barnett family, Purnell and his mother are buried in her family plot in Kentucky.
In Memorium
It is right and fitting that we remember those who gave their lives in service to our country, from the most famous heroes to the unknown, forgotten soldiers in the field. May they all be blessed.
