Otto Ferdinand Leven

Otto Leven during World War I [ca. 1917] War: World War I, 1914-1920 Branch: Army Unit: Company E, 90th Infantry Division Service Location: Camp Travis, Texas; Camp Mills, Long Island, New York; England; France Highest Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: Ottawa, IL

Otto Leven served in the army during World War I. He was of hearty German stock (his parents immigrated to America around 1886) and spent most of his twenty-three civilian years on his family's farms in Kay County and Newkirk, Oklahoma. Drafted in October 1917, he was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division and served in the 357th Regiment. Leven apparently wrote home copiously, his surviving letters projecting earnestness charm, and enthusiasm. Leven was mortally wounded while on patrol on September 29, 1918 and died two days later. His last letters home offer the reader an irony created by the contrast between Leven's generally cheery prose and the harshness of war. The irony is further defined by Leven's description of a dream he has where he envisions his mother and sister laying out his clothes.