How many men were rescued in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October 1918?
Lost Battalion (World War I) The Lost Battalion is the name given to nine companies of the United States 77th Division, roughly 554 men, isolated by German forces during World War I after an American attack in the Argonne Forest in October 1918. Roughly 197 were killed in action and approximately 150 missing or taken prisoner before 194 remaining men were rescued. They were led by Major Charles White Whittlesey. On 2 October, the division quickly advanced into the Argonne, under the belief that French forces were supporting the left flank and two American units including the 92nd Division were supporting the right flank. Unknown to Whittlesey's unit, the French advance had been stalled. Without this knowledge, the Americans had moved beyond the rest of the Allied line and found themselves completely cut off and surrounded by German forces. For the next six days, suffering heavy losses, the men of the division were forced to fight off several attacks by the Germans.
Jeanne Daman Jeanne Daman (1918-86) is one of the Righteous Among the Nations. She helped rescue two thousand Jewish children from the Nazis by taking them to shelters. After the war she helped to find the children so they could be brought back to their families, and helped care for children who had survived the concentration camps. Daman also took Jewish women to be maids in Belgian households, giving them false identity papers and ration cards, and attempting to keep them informed of where their children were hiding.