Mike Moser "I Say" Published June 4, 2004

The memory of Milo Lemert is alive and well today

Someone asked me not long ago what I considered to be the proudest accomplishment in my journalism career. Being a journalist affords one opportunities others might not have.

Being responsible for changing policy in the federal food stamp program ranks high. So does going to the Iranian Embassy in Washington, D.C. during the Iranian hostage crisis.

Having a banquet meal with Margaret Hamilton, known as Cora or as the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz, talking to author Alex Haley, having lunch and spending a day with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., meeting and talking with legendary Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant all rank as memorable.

If my career were to end today, however, the proudest accomplishment to me is discovering who was this guy called Milo Lemert and then sharing this gentle man with the rest of Cumberland County so that his memory can truly belong to the ages.

The more I read and learned about Milo Lemert, the more I was convinced that this man should be one about whom all the school children in Cumberland County are taught. He should be the hero of heroes.

Oddly enough, as late as 1986 very few people in Crossville had ever heard of Milo Lemert. I had never heard of him until I visited the Cumberland County Playhouse to see Tennessee, USA! During the production I spotted someone walking across the stage carrying a placard that simply read, "Milo Lemert, Congressional Medal of Honor."

Thanks to the late Paul Crabtree because his historical footnote in that popular play ignited a spark.

I started asking around and no one seemed to know who Milo Lemert was or what he had done to earn the nation's highest honor for military bravery. A short story was published and I did receive a couple of phone calls

The late Lewis Bohannon directed me to Lemert's grave in City Cemetery and to my shock and disappointment, the white stone, weathered marker made no mention of the Medal of Honor. The headstone simply read, "Milo Lemert, 1st Sergeant, Company G, 119th Infantry, 30th Division, Born Albion, Iowa March 25, 1890, Killed in France September 29, 1918 in the Battle of Bellicourt."

Phone calls were made. Congressman Jim Cooper, who at that time represented Cumberland County in Washington, was contacted. Mickey Eldridge and Juliene Barnwell of Cooper's Crossville field office went to work as did Frank Bohannon and later American Legion Post 163.

L.T. Thurman Jr. assisted us which was important because L.T.'s father, Litton, was with Milo when Milo was killed, was himself wounded, and later was awarded the nation's second highest honor, The Distinguished Service Cross.

Today the proper marker at Milo's grave is in place, along with a lighted flag pole and a granite slab bearing Lemert's citation.

Years ago the state of Tennessee named a bridge over the Tennessee River near Savannah, TN, in honor of Milo Lemert. An American Legion Post in Maryland named its post the Sgt. Milo Lemert Post. Yet nothing commemorated the memory of this heroic American.

Today old post office building on Main St. and a section of the bypass are named in his honor. Cumberland Countians now have read of Milo's heroics. And now many know who Milo Lemert was and what he did.

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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His column is published periodically on Fridays.