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Great Pop-Pop gets his medal

By LtCol Gregory J. Johnson, USMC (Ret.)

In 1986, one week after the birth of my first-born child, a special ceremony took place on the grounds of the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia. This was a unique ceremony, but not un-similar to others, I'm sure, that have occurred before — and since. This particular ceremony the Marine Corps conducted was in honor of an enlisted U.S. Army soldier who had performed honorable service to his country during World War I. Now this individual wasn't a great war hero of any sorts in the military sense. He saw combat and did his duty to the best of his ability. He bravely fought America's fight, before returning home to become a chemist with the DuPont Company for the majority of his life. He was just one of many citizen soldiers who answered his country's call to arms in "The war to end all wars"—The Great War.

Now a little more background on this is probably in order. During 1986 I was completing a tour as an instructor at the Marine Corps' Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico. I had been married a year and we had just welcomed the arrival of our first child. My wife’s grandfather, Albert Reidinger, had served in the U.S. Army as a private during World War I. He had fought with the 78th Division (The Lightening Division) as part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). He saw action at St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and the Defensive Sector. 'Great Pop-Pop', as he was called within the family, did not return to the states with his unit when the war ended. A Princeton man, he was given an opportunity to stay behind for a few months to take some academic courses at a prominent university in Paris.

[Fast forward to 1985....]

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Gustav Wesley Kuhlman

Submitted by: Daniel Flora

Gustav Kuhlman was born in Lowell, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin. While in the Army he attained the rank of Private First Class.

Dates Served: July 24th 1918-June 23rd 1919
Branch of Service: Army
Unit: Hospital Base No. 69- Medical

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Daniel J. Daly

Submitted by: Justin Daly

Daniel J. Daly served in World War 1 with the the United States Marine Corps. The dates of service are: Known 1898 to 1929.

Highest decorated enlisted man in the AEF before and after war. He received two Medals of Honor. Distinguished himself in Belleau Wood and Chatteau-Therey Campaign. I interviewed the last survivor of his WW1 platoon in 1984

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John H Taber

Submitted by: Stephen Taber

John H Taber served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 5/12/17 - 5/12/19.

First Lieutenant Taber, Company K, 168th Infantry, 42nd Division.
Fought in the trenches of Lorraine, Champagne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne.
Published history of regiment in 1925. His Diary (A Rainbow Division Lieutenant in France) was published in October 2015.

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Michael Joseph Cleary

Submitted by: Alexander Oross

Michael Joseph Cleary served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1917-1918.

Michael Joseph Cleary was born in South Amboy on October 17, 1893. He suffered from emphysema and died May 9, 1969 of bronchial pneumonia. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. His godparents were Patrick Cleary, his grandfather, and his grandmother, Bridget (Hare) Brahney. Michael was 5' 10" tall and red-headed

On June 5, 1917, he registered for the first draft for World War I. He was living with his parents at the time, and his occupation was that of a "powder handler" at the Hercules Powder Company, Parlin, New Jersey. The description furnished at the time of registration was slender build, medium height, blue eyes and red hair.

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Clifford Washington Misenheimer

Submitted by: Barry Misenheimer

Clifford W. Misenheimer was a career railway man in civilian life and worked on trains in Nevers, France during the war. Returned to the USA from France on July 4, 1919, at Hoboken, NJ.

Dates Served:  May 18, 1918-July 18,1919
Branch of Service: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Unit: 117th Company, 19th Division; Company B, 50th Engineers

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Oscar Matthew Nyman

Submitted by: Oscar Matthew Nyman

Oscar Nyman was an immigrant from Finland and was drafted into Co. M, 364th Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division. He did his basic training at Camp Lewis Washington. When the 91st deployed to Europe he went with them. He was wounded by shrapnel on the first day of the Meuse Argonne offensive 26 September 1918. He returned to the United States as far as we can tell with the rest of the 364th Infantry. Almost 100 years later I, his Great Grandson, is currently the 91st Training Division Operations (USAR) Public Affairs Officer as well as the Division Historian.

Dates Served: 27 April 1918 into early 1919
Branch of Service: US National Army
Unit: Co. M, 364th Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division

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William L. Moylan

Submitted by: Ken Moylan

In honor of the memory of my Grandfather and his service to our country in the First World War.

William L. Moylan (1894-1968) of Eveleth, Minnesota enlisted in June 1917, 3rd Minnesota, Company F. Soon after he was transferred into the 3rd Division, 30th Infantry Regiment, Company L. Days after arriving in France, the 30th Infantry Regiment was rushed to stop the German spring offensive at Hill 204, in the vicinity of Chateau Thierry. At the “Battle of the Marne” his battalion took very heavy casualties from the opening artillery barrage of explosives and gas. Over the next four hours, under this terrible barrage, in the dark woods and while wearing a gas mask. Private Moylan with no regard for his own safely, helped medics tend to the increasing numbers of dead and wounded.

Dates Served: June 1917- June 1919
Branch of Service: Army, AEF
Unit: 3rd Division, 30th Infantry Regiment, Company L

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Harold J. Leonard

Submitted by: Robert Leonard

My father, Pvt Harold J. Leonard was wounded in WWI and spent six months in the hospital in Paris after the war had ended. He had lost his memory. One day a nurse and a doctor were passing his room when she looked in. She told the doctor that she knew him and they were from the same town. Through her efforts he was able to regain his memory. We were never able to get his Purple Heart. All records were destroyed in the fire.

Dates Served: Unknown
Branch of Service: Army
Unit: Co. A, 16th Infantry, 1 Div

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Milton K. Rigby

Submitted by: Thomas Morgan

In the Summer of 1917, Canadian Lieutenant Colonel P. A. Guthrie, a commander in the famed Black Watch Regiment, was evacuated from the front line of combat in Germany after sustaining injuries from nearly being hit by an artillery shell. While recovering, he traveled to New England to recruit Americans to fill the places of his men lost in combat.

Milton K. Rigby of Rhode Island, and 1000 other New Englanders answered Guthrie’s call to service and on July 17th 1917 swore an oath to the king to defend the British Commonwealth and her allies. He was assigned to the 236th MacLean Kilties but was transferred to the 42nd Battalion, 3rd C.E.F. Division, along with other American Kilties, to form a joint Canadian, British and American unit under the command of the Black Watch.

Dates Served: July 17th 1917 – March 11th 1919
Branch of Service: Canadian Expeditionary Force, 3rd Division
Unit: 236th Battalion (MacLean Kilties), was deployed with the 42nd Infantry Battalion (Black Watch)

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