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World War I Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Lieutenant Edouard Victor Michel Izac, US Navy
Edouard Victor Michel Izac (1891-1990) of San Diego, California, Born in Cresco, Iowa, December 18, 1891. Served in the U.S. Navy during World War I; U.S. Representative from California, 1937-1947 (20th District 1937-1943, 23rd District 1943-1947). Received the Medal of Honor for actions as a German prisoner of war in 1918. Burial location Arlington National Cemetery, Plot: Section 3 lot 4222-16 map grid U 17.
United States Representative from California; born in Cresco, Howard County, Iowa, December 18, 1891; attended the School of the Assumption, Cresco, Iowa, the high school at South St. Paul, Minn., and Werntz Preparatory School, Annapolis, Md.; was graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1915; served in the United States Navy as ensign, lieutenant (jg), and senior lieutenant until forced to retire in 1921 on account of wounds received while a prisoner of war in Germany; awarded Congressional Medal of Honor, the Croce di Guerra of Italy, and the Cross of Montenegro; located in San Diego, Calif., and engaged in newspaper work and writing 1922-1928; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1934 to the Seventy-fourth Congress; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1940 and 1944; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1937-January 3, 1947); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress; interested in lumbering; raised thoroughbred cattle on a farm in Gordonsville, Va., before residing in Bethesda, Md.; was a resident of Fairfax, Va., from 1988 until his death there on January 18, 1990; interment in Arlington National Cemetery.
Survivors of the USS President Lincoln aboard the Warrington transferring to the Smith
When the U.S.S. President Lincoln was attacked and sunk by the German submarine U-90, on May 21, 1918, Lt. Edouard V. M. Izac was second in command. German submarines were ordered to bring back proof of their "kills," and the sub came up to the surface, demanding the Captain of the ship. The US crew was afraid the Germans wanted to kill him, so they hid him and Lt. Izac told them that he died when the ship was hit. The Germans took Izac prisoner, as proof they had sunk the ship. Izac kept his knowledge of reading and speaking German from his captors, and during his stay on the U-90 he obtained information of the battle plans and movements of German submarines. This information would make a major difference in how the Atlantic War would be fought. When the submarine returned to Germany, he was turned over to the German Army for transport to a prisoner of war camp. In attempting to escape, he jumped through the window of a rapidly moving train at the imminent risk of death, not only from the nature of the act itself but from the fire of the armed German soldiers who were guarding him. He was recaptured and confined until he reached the POW Camp. Lt. Izac made a second and successful escape attempt, breaking his way through barbed-wire fences and deliberately drawing the fire of the armed guards in the hope of permitting others to escape during the confusion. Two other Allied officers also escaped. He made his way through the mountains of southwestern Germany, having only raw vegetables for food, and at the end, swam the Rhein River to Switzerland during the night in the immediate vicinity of German sentries. He walked into the American Embassy at Bern, Switzerland, to deliver his strategic information on 11 November 1918, the morning the war ended. For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1922, the only US Navy person to earn this medal in World War I. A second grave site for Edouard Izac gives additional information about his life and family.
An account written by an unknown officer who survived the sinking This is an account of the events of the sinking of the President Lincoln that was written in the May 1919 edition of THE CONVOY. This was a monthly magazine published in Hoboken, N.J. in the interests of the Force, for men of the Regular Navy.
U.S.S. President Lincoln, in company convoy, was steaming on the return trip to America from France. The ships were about 500 miles from the coast of France and had passed through what was considered to be the most dangerous part of the war zone. At about 9 a. m. a terrific explosion occurred on the port side of the ship about 120 feet from the bow and immediately afterwards another explosion occurred on the port side about 120 feet from the stem of the ship, these explosions being immediately identified as coming from torpedoes fired by a German submarine.
It was found that the ship was struck by three torpedoes, which had been fired as one salvo from the submarine, two of the torpedoes striking practically together near the bow of the ship and the third striking near the Stern. The wake of the torpedoes had been sighted by the officers and lookouts on watch, but the torpedoes were so close to the ship as to make it impossible to avoid them; and it was also found that the submarine, at the time of firing, was only about 800 yards from the President Lincoln. There were at the time 715 persons ort board, including about thirty officers and men of the army. Some of these were sick and two acted on orders from the commanding officer with coolness, which was truly inspiring.
Inspections were made below decks and it was found that the ship was rapidly filling with water, both forward and aft, and that there was little likelihood of her remaining afloat. The boats were lowered and the life rafts were in the water, and about fifteen minutes after the ship was struck all hands except the gun crews were ordered to abandon ship.
The gun crews were held at their stations hoping for an opportunity to fire on the submarine should it appear before the ship sank, and orders were given to the gun crews to begin firing, hoping that this might prevent further attacks.
All the ships company except the gun crews and necessary Officers were at that time in the boats and on the rafts near the ship, and when the gun crews began firing the people in the boats set up a cheer to show that they were not downhearted. The gun crews only left their guns when ordered by the commanding officer just before the ship sank. The guns in the bow kept up firing until after the water was entirely over the main deck of the after part of the ship.
The state of discipline that existed and the coolness of the men are well illustrated by what occurred when the boats were being lowered and were about half way from their davits to the water. At this particular time there appeared some possibility of the ship not sinking immediately, and the commanding officer gave the order to stop lowering the boats. This order could not be understood, however, owing to the noise caused by escaping steam from the safety valves of the boilers which had been lifted to prevent explosion, but by a motion of the hand from the commanding officer the crews stopped lowering the boats and held them in mid-air for a few minutes until, at a further motion of the hand, the boats were dropped into the water. Immediately after the ship sank the boats pulled among the rafts and were loaded with men to their full capacity and the work of collecting the rafts and tying them together to prevent them drifting apart and becoming lost was begun.
While this work was under way and about half an hour after the ship sank, a large German submarine emerged and came among the boats and rafts, searching for the commanding officer and some of the senior officers whom they desired to take prisoner. The submarine commander was able to identify only one officer, Lt. E. V. M. Izac, whom he took on board and carried away. The submarine remained in the vicinity of the boats for about two hours and returned again in the afternoon, hoping apparently for an opportunity of attacking some other ships which had been in company with the President Lincoln, but which had, according to orders, with standard instructions, steamed as rapidly as possible from the scene of attack.
By dark the boats and rafts had been collected and secured together, theyre being about five hundred men in the boats and about two hundred on the rafts. Lighted lanterns were hoisted in the boats and flare-up lights and coston signals were burned every few minutes, the necessary detail of men being made to carry out this work during the night. The boats had been provided with water and food, but none was used during the day, as the quantity was necessarily limited and it might be a period of several days before a rescue could be affected.
The ship's wireless plant had been put out of commission by the force of the explosion, and although the ship's operator had sent the radio distress signals, yet it was known that the nearest destroyers were 250 miles away, protecting another convoy and it was possible that military necessity might prevent their being detached to come to our rescue.
At about.11 p. m. a white light flashing in the blackness of the night, it was very dark, was sighted, and very shortly it was found that the destroyer Warrington arrived for our rescue, and about an hour afterward the destroyer Smith also arrived. The transfer of the men from the boats and rafts to the destroyers was affected as quickly as possible and the destroyers remained in the vicinity until after daylight the following morning, when a further search was made for survivors who might have drifted in a boat or on a raft, but none were found, and about 6 a. m. the return trip to France was begun.
Of the 715 men present, all told on board, it was found, after the muster, that three officers and twenty-three me were lost with the ship, and that one officer, Lieut. Izac above mentioned, had been taken prisoner. The three officers were Passed Assistant Surgeon L. C. Whitesite, Ship's Medical Officer; Paymaster Andrew Mowat, ships Supply Officer; and Assistant Paymaster J. D. Johnson U.S.N.R.F.
The loss of these officers was regrettable, as they could have escaped. Both Doctor Whiteside and Paymaster Mowat had seen the men under their charge leave the ship, the doctor having seen to the placing of the sick in the boat provided for the purpose, and they then remained on the ship for some unexplainable reason, as testified by witnesses who last saw them, and apparently these two excellent officers were taken down with the ship. Paymaster Johnson got on a raft alongside the ship, but in some way was caught by the ship as she went under, as C. M. Hippard, ships cook 3d class, USN, states that he was on the raft with Paymaster Johnson and that they were both drawn under the water, but when he came to the surface, Paymaster Johnson could no longer be seen.
Although the German submarine commander made no offers of assistance of any kind, yet otherwise his conduct for the ships company in the boats was all that could be expected. We naturally had some apprehension as to whether or not he would probably do this as an attempt to make me and other officers disclose our identity. This possibility was evidently in the minds of the men also, because at one time I noticed some one on the submarine walk towards the muzzle of one of the guns, apparently with the intention of preparing it for action. This was evidently noticed by some of the men in my boat, and I heard the remark, Good night, here comes the fireworks. The spirit that actuated this remark under such circumstances could be none other than cool courage and bravery.
There were many instances where men showed more interest in the safety of another man then he did for himself. When loading the boats from the rafts one man would hold back and insist that another be allowed to enter the boat. There was a striking case of this kind when about dark I noticed that Chief-Master-At-Arms Rogers, who was rather an old man, and had been in the Navy for years, was on the raft, and I sent a boat to take him from the raft, but he objected considerably to this, stating that he was quite all right, although, as a matter of fact, he was very cold and cramped from his long hours on the raft.
The conduct of the men during this time of grave danger was thrilling and inspiring, as a large percentage of them were young boys, who had only been in the Navy for a period of months. This is another example of the innate courage and bravery of the young manhood of America.
Escape from Villigen, 1918
by Dwight R. Messimer
On July 26, 1918, American aviator First Lt. George Puryear shot down a German observation plane and then, in an act of bravado, landed to accept the crew's surrender. In fact, by miscalculation he had landed inside the German lines, and it was the Germans who accepted his surrender. But Puryear redeemed himself ten weeks later when he led a mass escape from the prison camp at Villingen, Germany.
Once he was out of prison and safely in the Black Forest, Puryear went to a prearranged spot where we were to meet and waited fifteen minutes. While I waited there were about fifty shots fired. No one came, so I got down on my knees, prayed for luck and started off. Five days later he reached Switzerland, the first American officer to escape from the Germans and return to his unit during World War I. Early the following morning Edouard Isaacs (Edouard Victor Michel Izac) and Harold Willis made the hazardous crossing of the Rhine River to freedom.
Life in World War I POW camps was not terrible for officers. Unlike enlisted men, officers were not required to labor long, hard hours, and they were given comfortable quarters. Often, access to recreational facilities and leisure time gave them opportunity to plan and organize escape attempts. Still, escapes were rare.
A total of 4,480 Americans were captured by the Germans during the war. Of that number, forty-four made at least one escape attempt. Thirteen of them attempted the escape from Villingen on October 6, 1918, and of that group, only Puryear, Isaacs, and Willis were not recaptured.
This account of capture and escape is the definitive overview of the prisoner of war experience of American aviation officers in World War I.
Escape pg. 236
CITATION:
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Aboard German submarine U-90 as prisoner of war, 21 May 1918. Entered service at: Illinois. Born: 18 December 1891, Cresco, Howard County, Iowa. Citation: When the U.S.S. President Lincoln was attacked and sunk by the German submarine U-90, on 21 May 1918, Lt. Izac was captured and held as a prisoner on board the U-90 until the return of the submarine to Germany, when he was confined in the prison camp. During his stay on the U-90 he obtained information of the movements of German submarines which was so important that he determined to escape, with a view to making this information available to the U.S. and Allied Naval authorities. In attempting to carry out this plan, he jumped through the window of a rapidly moving train at the imminent risk of death, not only from the nature of the act itself but from the fire of the armed German soldiers who were guarding him. Having been recaptured and reconfined, Lt. Izac made a second and successful attempt to escape, breaking his way through barbed-wire fences and deliberately drawing the fire of the armed guards in the hope of permitting others to escape during the confusion. He made his way through the mountains of southwestern Germany, having only raw vegetables for food, and at the end, swam the River Rhine during the night in the immediate vicinity of German sentries.
Courtesy of Find A Grave
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