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| Ethel Bunker Miner |
This is a true story about my great
grandmother Ethel Bunker Miner and great granduncle Ralph Clyde Bunker. There
are many lessons one can learn from this story, but the biggest lesson for me is
a reconfirmation that divine intervention is real and it happens. It helps
strengthen my faith in God and prayer. Here are my father Jim Hartley's words
who prepared this and made it available through FamilySearch.org:
"For people of faith, there
are often “coincidences” in life that cannot be explained except by divine
intervention. Those coincidences can involve feelings and actions that defy all
reason and common sense, yet they are so powerful, miracles happen. Through
them, God’s personalized love and tender mercies are manifest, and there can be
no other explanation. Such was the case with Ethel and Clyde Bunker.
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| Ethel & Clyde in their younger years |
Ethel and Clyde were the children
of Edward Bunker, Jr. and Arimenta Zarada McClellan. There were 13 children
born into their family, but only six lived beyond early childhood. Ethel and
Clyde were the youngest of the surviving children. Clyde was six years younger
than Ethel, so it’s reasonable to assume that while growing up, Ethel was as
much a little “mother” to Clyde as she was his sister. That could explain why
Clyde turned to Ethel in a time of extreme need.
In 1914, when the United States
entered World War 1, the call was given to “go to war or take a farm.” Ethel
and her husband bought a farm. Clyde was drafted into the Army.
On December 20, 1912, Ethel
Bunker married Paul Chase Miner. When America entered the war, Paul was 25
years old and considered to be too old to be drafted. So Paul and Ethel bought
a large number of acres in Manila, Utah, a remote area in the extreme
northeastern corner of the state. There, they planted many acres of field and
garden crops and raised 1,000 chickens, 500 turkeys, and some ducks and geese.
They had a few horses, including Ethel’s favorite horse, “Buckskin.” They also
had a pet Jersey cow named “Flossie.” They didn’t own a car or a tractor, so
“Buckskin” and the other horses were their only “horsepower” for plowing,
hauling, and transportation.
In January 1917, 22-year old
Ralph Clyde Bunker registered for the military draft. Eight months later, he
married Evelene Sorensen. Then, eight months after his marriage, on April 28,
1918, he was called up to join the Army. Sadly, he left Evelene one-month
pregnant with their son. Because of the war, Clyde would not see his first-born
until the boy was five months old.
Private 1st Class Bunker was
assigned to the Army’s 362nd Infantry Regiment and the 91st Division—the “Wild
West Division.”
On September 7, 1918, Clyde’s
unit joined approximately 550,000 other Americans fighting the Germans at the
Battle of St. Mihiel in France. The four-day offensive that began on September
12th was successful, but it cost the Allies approximately 7,000 casualties.
But the Battle of St. Mihiel was
only a warm-up for the largest and most decisive battle of World War 1, the
Battle of Meuse-Argonne. It was the final Allied offensive of the war and it
spanned the entire 400+ miles of the Western Front through Belgium, France, and
part of southwestern Germany. That brutal 47-day battle was fought from
September 26th until the Armistice on November 11th 1918. Along with British,
French, and Belgian troops, it involved 1.2 million American soldiers. The
battle took more than 26,000 American lives and wounded nearly 96,000 others,
making it the largest and bloodiest operation of the war for the American
forces.
At one point during the battle,
on October 3, 1918, Clyde’s unit was pinned down under nearly 10 hours of
intensive enemy artillery fire. Without adequate cover many were wounded or
killed that day. In addition to explosives, both sides outfitted artillery
shells and grenades with mustard gas and the battle fields were blanketed with
clouds of poisonous gas. Clyde was among those who were gassed. Nevertheless,
he was able to continue with his regiment until the end of the war.
On April 16th, 1919, five months
after the war ended, Clyde and the “Wild West” 91st Division returned to the
states. Thirteen days later, on April 29, 1919, Clyde’s 362nd Regiment was
demobilized at Fort David A. Russell [now Francis E. Warren Air Force Base] in
Cheyenne, Wyoming.
But, Clyde wasn’t ready to face
his wife and son yet. Shortly after arriving in the States, Clyde sent a letter
to his sister, Ethel, asking if he could stay with her and her family for a
while. He had been gassed during the war and his nerves were very bad.
More than 124,000 tons of
chemical weapons had been produced during the war and were heavily used by both
sides, especially during the final two years, 1917 and 1918. Phosgene Gas was
code named “White Star.” Chlorine Gas combined with Phosgene Gas was code named
“Red Star.” And, the most widely used and most damaging gas, Mustard Gas, was
code named, “Yellow Cross” because Germans would mark their mustard gas
artillery shells and grenades with a yellow cross. An estimated 1.3 million
soldiers were poisoned with gas during World War 1. Few were actually killed;
the gasses were meant to injure and disable.
Mustard Gas, for example, caused
severe burning and blistering of the skin, eyes, throat, and lungs. It was
absorbed into the body through inhalation, ingestion, or by coming into contact
with the skin or eyes. Victims required many weeks to recover. Sadly, some
remained permanently disfigured or blind. Others developed respiratory diseases
or infections that were fatal. The gas also damaged DNA in human cells,
rendering victims at great risk for certain types of cancers. The effects of
the poisonous gas and the trauma of the war were physically and emotionally
disabling for many who returned home. Clyde was one of them.
When demobilized from Fort
Russell in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Clyde and hundreds of other soldiers boarded
trains for home. For those traveling west, the first railroad transfer point
was Green River, Wyoming. From there, trains headed either northwest or
southwest. Clyde hoped that he wouldn’t have to transfer at all. Instead, he
hoped that his sister, Ethel, would pick him up at Green River. But a terrible
storm rolled in that damaged telephone lines between Green River and Manila.
Clyde couldn’t get a call through to notify her. He had no other option but to
endure the night at the station and on the next day, travel home in his
fragile, weakened condition.
That next morning, across the
border in Utah, Ethel announced to her husband, Paul, that they weren’t going
to Sunday School that day. She insisted that they had to borrow a car and drive
to Green River and get Clyde. She told how she saw her brother in a dream
during the night. She saw that he was trying to reach them, but for some reason
couldn’t. A dream? Paul said, “Ethel, it is 60 miles and we can’t go there on a
wild goose chase!” Ethel began to cry and insisted that she absolutely knew
that Clyde was at the train station. Very reluctantly, Paul agreed to go and he
borrowed a neighbor’s car.
As they came into view of the
railway station, a distant train was approaching from the east. “Drive faster,
Paul,” Ethel exclaimed. “We must get there before that train does because Clyde
will leave on it.” Paul just shrugged his shoulders and drove a little faster.
They arrived at the station before the train and found hundreds of soldiers
milling around. Frantically, Ethel and Paul circulated among the soldiers
inquiring after Clyde Bunker. Just when they were about to give up, Ethel
spotted her brother and yelled, “Clyde Bunker, I’m here!” There was immense joy
as they fell into each other’s arms. Clyde was astonished. “Sis,” he asked,
“how did you know I was here?” Ethel then told him of her dream. Clyde
responded, “The Lord truly heard and answered my prayer! I vowed that if I
didn’t see you here before this train came in I would have to go on.”
Clyde stayed with Ethel and her
family for a few weeks while he recuperated and gained strength.
How did Ethel know her brother
was at the Green River railroad station? In circumstances like this, there is
no such thing as coincidence. It was divine intervention pure and simple—a
providential response to the desperate prayer of a sick and lonely
soldier."
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Adapted
by James E. Hartley from an autobiography, “Life and History of Norma Miner
Hartley,” written by Norma Miner Hartley (daughter of Ethel Bunker Miner).
(Norma was with her parents at the Green River railroad station when “Uncle
Clyde” was miraculously found there.)
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