US Army Corporal Robert Aloysius Foster was born at the Pensacola Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida on April 16, 1888, the son of US Navy Lt. Charles Alexander Foster (1850-1910) and Marion L. Foster (1861-). His father was born at Akron, Ohio, in 1850 and entered the US Naval Academy in 1866. He would graduate in 1871 and served faithfully until his forced retirement due to his health in 1895. During his career he is said to have once been the commanding officer of the cruiser USS Baltimore. His own father was the son of Robert and Lucinda Avis McMillan Foster who were living in Inver Grove, Dakota Co., Minnesota in 1860. The year 1880 would find Charles and Marion living with is parents in Minnesota but still listed as a naval officer. In 1888, he was stationed in Pensacola, Florida and already married to Marion. Here, Robert was born at the Navy Yard. In 1900, the family is located in Manhattan, New York and Lt. Foster is apparently medically retired. Around this time, his parents apparently split up with Charles relocating to Biloxi, Mississippi. He was married on February 6, 1905 to Josephine Bernier (1868-1947) in St. Bernard, Louisiana. Shortly afterwards, Marion would remarry on October 27, 1906 to William T. Seagrave.
Robert would grow up in Manhattan where he graduated from the De La Salle Institute, a coed Catholic Church School that opened in the late 1800's. Shortly thereafter his father would pass away unexpectantly from a stroke on May 3, 1910 at his home in Biloxi and buried in the National Cemetery there. As a young man, Robert had an adventurous life to say the least. He was said to have been an expert horseman, although he was involved in a riding accident at the Ausable Chasm, a tourist attraction near Keeseville, NY. For whatever reason he rode his horse over a 50' cliff into the river below. He escaped injury but the horse was killed. He also played professional baseball for the fledgling New York Highlanders now known as the New York Yankees. To add to his resume, he tried his hand at acting and was reputed to have appeared in a 1914 silent movie called "Eagle's Mate" with the Hollywood star of the day Mary Pickford.
He would enlist in the US Army on June 20, 1916 and assigned to the 69th New York "Fighting 69th" Infantry Regiment. The nickname was given to them by Confederate General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. Also known as the "Fighting Irish" the regiment was sent to McAllen, Texas on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa expedition. But for whatever reason, young Robert was charged with desertion on March 7, 1917, a charge later determined to be a mistake and his sentence of three months at hard labor was removed. After the regiment returned to New York, Robert was honorably discharged and took a government job at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. However, one month after the regiment returned America declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Robert would enlist in Company "D" of his old regiment on July 17, 1917, although their name had now been changed to the 165th Infantry Regiment. In the meantime, he was somehow selected as the "typical American Soldier" and his photo began appearing on postcards and circulated across America.
But war means an Army and a Navy and these entities had to be assimilated in record time. Answering this call to arms, the War Department assigned Major Douglas McArthur to assist in creating the 42nd Infantry Division that would be comprised of National Guard units from 26 states. Robert's national guard regiment would be one of them! Since these units were from all over the country, they were nicknamed the 42nd “Rainbow” Division since they represented every state of the union. When all was ready, Robert and his 1st Battalion were transferred to Camp Albert L. Mills near Garden City, Long Island. From there they boarded a train on October 29, 1917 and headed for Montreal where they re-boarded the transport ship SS Tunisian.
Upon arrival they went through intensive training until December 26, 1917, when the regiment left Valcouleurs during a blizzard to march through the Vosges Mountains for 80 miles to Longeau and Luneville. With deep snow, below zero temperatures, and no food they marched for four days leaving a bloody trail behind them. The march became folklore that was known as the the "Valley Forge Hike." On February 26, 1918, the regiment entered the trenches at the Rouges Bouquet Chaussilles Sector of the front lines and took up defensive operations. By June 18, the regiment was located in the Champagne sector near St. Hillaire. While there, Robert wrote to his cousin Emma McGeehan on June 18 that in one attack he had carried an Irish flag with him. He told her that "I held onto that old green flag and went right over the top with my comrades. I feel mighty proud of the feat too." During the battle on July 14, the division halted a huge German offensive in the Second Battle of the Marne. Four days later, the regiment led a vigorous counterattack that pushed the German line three miles to the east. As a footnote, the flag that Foster carried during the battle was brought back to the United States after his death and sent to President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, DC.
As the Germans retreated, the Allies launched the Aisne-Marne Offensive on July 26, calling upon the 165th Regiment to lead the attack across the Ourcq River where the Germans had established a strong defensive position on the north side. On July 28, the regiment was crossing an open field in the face of intense German artillery and machine gun fire, when Corporal Robert Foster was killed in action. His comrades continued the attack and forced a German withdrawal leaving behind 1,400 American casualties (42% of the unit) that included Robert and 263 other fallen soldiers.
Robert's remains were buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery at Fere-en-Tardenois, France. Sadly, his mother was never notified of his death until two months after he was killed. His mother would receive his medals to include the French Croix de Guerre for his “remarkable courage and bravery” and much later his Purple Heart.
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