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| | SERGT. RUDOLPH C. H. BRANDT
Serial No. 2.026,553
522 S. Charles St.. Saginaw. Mich.
Sergeant Brandt joined the Battery September 22 1917. He took naturally to military life, being gifted with adaptability which enabled him to take orders. He was physically well proportioned and presented a soldierly appearance and had, in addition, a commanding voice, benefiting an officer.
In civilian life Brandt had been a carpenter, which manual knowledge he turned to good account in the early history of the Battery by helping to construct the wooden guns with which we first practiced. He attended School of Fire, Non-Com. School and School of Gas Instruction. He was one of the first of the enlisted men to teach the Battery defense against gas. At Camp Coetquidan he was sent to Gas Training School, near Paris, for additional training. On his return he gave the Battery their first description of Paris and his impressions of that famous metropolis.
Shortly after his return he was transferred from Battery B to Headquarters Company, and made Regimental Gas Sergeant, serving in that capacity throughout the hostilities.
During his training against gas attacks of our Battery he instituted a system of alarm to he given at night. He would hit a piece of pipe or something that would resound, and this meant adjust gas mask. He had the men on the alert for these alarms, a habit they must acquire before going into enemy soil. After giving the alarm he would come through the barracks with an electric flashlight, which he would throw on every man to ascertain if he had responded properly to the signal. Those who had failed to adjust the gas mask were under some form of punishment the following day. He was an excellent drill master, who gave efficiency and expected it from others.
At Les Forge he was returned to the Battery and mustered out with us at Custer. |