applications are available at Mt. Lebanon
Golf Course. For further information go to
mensgolfmtlebo.site123.me.
TOWN HALL SOUTH
SPEAKERS SERIES
Are you looking for intellectual growth
and cultural stimulation through national
and international acclaimed speakers that
inspire, educate, inform and enlarge one’s
world? Subscribe to Town Hall South,
which began in 1969 and features five
lectures that are held in the Upper St. Clair
High School Theatre from 10:10-11:10 a.m.
For the 2019-2020 season, the array of
speakers will include:
• October 1: Lou Holtz, legendary
football coach, ESPN sports analyst
and renowned motivational speaker
• November 5: Beth Macy, award-
winning journalist with a focus on
social problems including the opioid
crisis
• December 3: Alan Zwiebel, Emmy
Award-winning comedy writer
including for “Saturday Night Live”
• February 4: Vijay Gupta, violinist/
educator/mental health advocate
• March 17: Lynsey Addario, Pulitzer
Prize-winning photojournalist, focused
on War, Injustice, Resilience and
Humanity
In addition to the formal lecture, an
optional luncheon at St. Clair Country
Club is held immediately following, and the
speaker is available to answer questions
posed by the luncheon audience—which
frequently leads to a very candid exchange!
Tickets for the 2019-2020 season are sold
as a series only and can be purchased by
visiting the website at townhallsouth.org. n
LOCAL HISTORY:
PRIVATE
SCHAWOLT’S
HOMECOMING
World War I was horrific,
killing more than 115,000
Americans as well as
countless Europeans. The
killings happened so fast that
soldiers had to be buried
where they fell.
To the small Robinson
Township neighborhood of
Moon Run, William Schawolt
was not only a familiar face,
he was a son, brother, and
friend. The first of eight
children of a local coal
miner and a miner himself,
he enlisted in the Army on
Oct. 6, 1917, at the age of 26. As a member of Company B, One
Hundred and Sixty-Eighth Infantry, he was shipped to France
in March 1918. Just six months later, on Oct. 16, 1918, he
was killed at the Battle of the Argonne Forest. In a span of
47 days, that single battle took more than 26,000 young
American lives. The deadly offensive involving 1.2 million
Americans was one of the largest and deadliest in U.S.
military history.
Because of the staggering number of fatalities, soldiers’
remains were not brought back to the United States until 1921.
Schawolt had lain in American Cemetery #1232 for more than two years when
his family decided it was time to bring him home. It was an egregiously long,
sad process.
Like thousands of deceased American soldiers, Schawolt’s remains were
brought back on a U.S. Army Transport Funeral Ship. Each casket was placed
in a shipping case, covered with an American flag, and solemnly stacked in the
ship’s hold for transport home. On June 23, 1921, Private Schawolt’s remains
were placed on the funeral ship Somme in Antwerp, Belgium, and arrived in
Hoboken, New Jersey, on July 7. All of the dead were respectfully listed on the
ship’s manifest as passengers.
Schawolt’s body probably traveled across Pennsylvania by train. When he
finally arrived in Moon Run, a funeral procession accompanied him through
the hilly streets to his final resting place in Petrie Cemetery. Like countless
other World War I soldiers, Schawolt’s procession was accompanied by a vast
number of friends, relatives, and townsfolk. He was buried in Petrie with full
military honors on Aug. 8, 1921, nearly three years after his death.
The Battle of the Argonne Forest
turned out to be the last major battle of
the war, leading to the Armistice signed
on November 11, 1918. For William
Schawolt, the end of the war came just
four weeks too late.
For more information on historic
people and places in and around
Robinson, go to the Robinson Township
Historical Society’s website at parths.org
and consider becoming a member.
CARLYNTON-MONTOUR
❘
SUMMER 2019
7