(veteran)

Killed in action in France, and buried in France

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR CARL S. RASMUSSEN

A memorial service for Carl S. Rasmussen, of this city, who was killed in action in France on October 16th, was held at the Danish Lutheran Church at 3:30 last Sunday afternoon. The service was not advertised in advance because the crowd would have been too large to handle under the present quarantine regulations against crowding.

Mr. Rasmussen was an employee of the Danish Publishing House and was one of the first four men to be inducted into the service by the Local Board on Sept. 5, 1917, going to Camp Funston as the leader of the contingent.

He was among the first to be sent overseas and according to the government report, he was killed in action October 16th. The name wasn’t published in the Nebraska dailies for he gave as his nearest relative in this country his brother, Peter, of Long Beach, Calif. His aged father still lives in Denmark.

The following program was given: Prelude - Song No. 43 - Address, Rev. L. A. Laursen - Solo, “Lead Kindly Light,” John Andersen - Address, F. H. Claridge - Solo, John Andersen - Address, Rev. A. T. Schultz - Recitatiion, “Good Bye to a Comrade,” K. Nygaard - Music, Star changed from blue to gold (Congregation standing) - Vocal Duet - Reading of obituary, H. Skov Nielsen - Song No. 26 - Apostolic Benediction.

Miss Agatha Hansen presided at the organ.

Following the prelude, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” was sung by the congregation. Rev. Laursen, in behalf of the congregation, voiced the appreciation of Carl Rasmussen’s sacrifice. Mr. F. H. Claridge spoke from the standpoint of a citizen, pointing to the wonderful new spirit of the country that has been awakened by our participation in the war, a spirit at once Christian and national, having as it characteristics trust and obedience. This spirit had, in last year, been very manifest on the battlefield as well as at home.

To the world this new spirit revealed itself at Chateau Thierry, when a mere handful of U. S. Marines stopped Ludendorf’s drives and, seemingly, made possible Marshall Foch’s counter trusts that subsequently brought the war to an end.

The same spirit, bringing forth the pledge of the homeland to use “force without stint” or limit till the war had been won, also prompted the Marines to fight on till 6,000 of the 8,000 were killed or disabled and the Germans had been stopped.

In the same spirit all our later battles were fought by our noble boys and it is only meet that we should acknowledge their heroic deeds and sacrifices saying, “they did what they could.” Mr. Claridge was intense and was listened to with great interest.

After another fine solo by Mr. Anderson, “Meet Me There,” Rev. A. T. Schultz spoke in the Danish language on account of those present who could not understand English. He took for his text 1 Tim. 6:12 -- “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called,” and spoke of the loss felt by the congregation and especially the Young People’s Association which was caused by the death of Carl Rasmussen. The young people missed him because he had a peculiar gift to gather in young people of his own age, interest them, and make them to see things in his own light, which was a kind and beautiful one.

It was a consolation that his and his comrades sacrifices had not been in vain since freedom had been won, political, and we hope also social, for millions. It seems that even the Slesvig Danes were to have their national aspirations realized.

But a political consideration is not enough for those suffering from a severe loss. The hope and belief that Jesus has taken Carl Rasmussen home is enough.

If Carl’s friends could entertain such hopes, not because he fell in action, for not even a hero can be saved through the giving of his own blood, but any man, whoever he is, must be saved through faith, in the blood of our hero, and Lord Jesus Christ, in whom Carl had learned to trust.

Before he left, he had a premonition that he should not return to Blair any more, but there was reason to believe he prepared for a homecoming to his Father’s house “where many mansions be.”

In one of his last letters to a friend in Blair he wrote: “At present I am resting behind the lines, having recently been over the top with the rest of my company but I am unharmed for God has preserved me in many wonderful ways. Still no one knows what will happen and the point is, to be ready.”

We hope the Lord found him ready, and if we, like Carl, concern ourselves about being ready we may hope to meet him again.

But while we are here we will remember Carl’s old father on the other side of the ocean claiming him as his own. Great as our loss may be, his will be greater still. May he find the consolation which only God can give. We, on the other hand, also claim Carl as ours, and both we and his father are right because we and the people from whence he came are brethren.

Mr. Nygaard, who like Carl, was one of the first draft contingent from Blair, consisting of four boys, then gave a recitation, “Farewell to a Comrade.”

To the softly played music of “Nearer My God to Thee,” the congregation standing, Mr. Julius Kure, a recently discharged soldier from Camp Funston, vice-president of the Young People’s Association, took down the service flag, holding it in position for Mr. Vilhelm Beernstrup, Carl’s nearest friend, to change the star from blue to gold.

Some students from Dana College, directed by Miss Sinamark, sang “A Star That Was Blue, But is Golden Now.”

H. Skov Nielsen read his obituary and being Carl’s last employer, paid tribute to the fallen hero, the only one from within the city limits of Blair, who was killed in action, so far as is known.

Carl Sophus Rasmussen was born in Oro, Denmark, Nov. 21st, 1890 and came to America on Feb. 25th, 1910. On November 7th, 1913, he declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, and he was naturalized on May 8th, 1916.

Carl Rasmussen joined the Publishing House family about the first of February 1916 and remained with us without interruption until he joined the colors in September 1917. During that time we learned not only to value him as a conscientious and efficient employee, but we learned to love him for his sterling worth as a companion and as a man.

He was not an adventurous spirit for whom the soldier’s life might seem alluring. He was a man of peaceful inclination, content to pursue his quiet course within the narrow confines of his home environment. And when our country was plunged into the awful cataclysm of world war and the call went out for men to carry the Stars and Stripes into the thick of the fight, he responded not with the lighthearted bravado of the reckless but with the serious resolution of a man who recognizes the necessity of the terrible business and with whole hearted willingness to bear whatever sacrifice might be required of him.

Carl was a new American. Only a short time before he had become naturalized. But whatever there may have remained of the hyphen in his name, there was none in his attitude toward his country’s cause, and his supreme sacrifice has been accepted by our Government and by the Tribunal of Eternal Justice as fully equivalent to that of any descendant of Puritan or of Cavalier.

We looked forward to the time when he should come back and resume his place among us, when we might hear from his own lips the story of the war as he had seen it and rejoice with him in the ultimate and unqualified triumph of the right over might.

But this was not to be. His lips are forever sealed. His form rests in a soldier’s grave somewhere on the hallowed soil of martyred France, while his soul we trust has passed to happier realms above the skies.

We have been unable to learn particulars as to his part in the awful drama or even the circumstances under which he laid down his life. But we feel assured of this: that he did his duty there, as here, from first to last, and that his sacrifice was one of those and insured the permanency of human whose sum total turned the tide of war to freedom on earth.

As such we shall ever cherish his memory.

The congregation sang, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” and Rev. A. M. Anderson closed the beautiful service with a few remarks of the young soldier’s willingness to go overseas and take part in the struggle, after which he pronounced the apostolic benediction.

(typed as printed in the newspaper. Some variations in spellings may occur, due to the poor condition of the copy of the original newspaper article.)