The U.S. sent the 339th Infantry Regt. and 1st. Battalion 310th Engineers (part of the 85th Division from Camp Custer, Mich.) to train in England for the North Russia Expedition. They were equipped with Russian weapons, under British command, and landed at Arkhangelsk, Russia. The American component, of approximately 5,000 men, served from Sept. 1918 to July 1919. There were 235 U.S. deaths. In 1929 & 1934 about 200 bodies were recovered from Russia and returned to the U.S. (Fifty-six men were buried at the White Chapel Cemetery monument). The U.S. Troops of the North Russia Campaign were called 'Polar Bears'.
From August 1918 to April 1, 1920, there was an even larger, 7,950 man, U.S. force operating out of Vladivostok, Siberia. The 27th and 31st U.S. Regiments had been sent from the Philippines to operate with Japanese and Chinese forces. A large part of their role was to help extricate the over 56,000 soldiers of the Czechoslovak Legion, that had been part of the Czarist Russian war effort. (The Legion was making and fighting its way to Vladivostok).
The 27th and 31st regiments came equipped with U.S. weapons. One hundred and eighty-nine men of these regiments perished in Siberia. The 27th Regiment were called "Wolfhounds", for their tenacity. The 31st Regiment were nicknamed "Polar Bears".
The U.S. Servicemen of both campaigns certainly earned those Nicknames & Honors!
polar bear marker.jpgIMG_2308.jpgAmericans Vladivostok 1918.jpg