Stories of Service

You can search for the name or unit and you will get a list of the stories that contain them.

Charles Wesley Darrow

Submitted by: Tracy Tomaselli {historian}

Charles Wesley Darrow born around 1898. Charles Darrow served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1917.

Story of Service

Charles Wesley Darrow was born on 6 July 1898 in the Yalesville section of Wallingford, CT. He was the son of Nelson Edward Darrow and Florence Estella Calhoun. Charles was raised by his grandmother (Alice Rebina Spencer) and step-grandfather (Franklin Pierce Calhoun) who resided on Whitfield Street, Guilford, CT.

Charles Darrow joined Company D, 2nd Infantry Regiment, National Guard, on 19 June 1916 in New Haven, CT, at the age of 17, and served patrolling the Mexican border against raids. (service #64386)

The Connecticut 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments, having been federalized on 28 March 1917 to serve in the First World War, were combined into one Regiment to form the 102nd Inf. Regt. (CTANG). Training with this regiment for Charles began at Camp Yale on 6 July 1917. The camp was located in the vicinity of the Yale Bowl.

During this time, Charles, who was a plumber at the Acme Wire Mills in New Haven, CT, married Katherine O'Connor (29 July 1917) in New Haven, CT. Katherine (O'Connor) Darrow had an affair which led Charles to tell his uncle, Albert F. Calhoun, that he was "not coming back from France and didn't want to live."

Clifton Flagler

Submitted by: Bradley W. Flagler {Grandnephew}

no photo 300

Clifton Flagler born around 1895. Clifton Flagler served in World War 1 with the United States Marine Corps. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

Private Clifton Flagler, United States Marine Corps, 55th Company and his Gold Star mothers quest for information about the death of her son.

Clifton Flagler was the sixth son of James Enos & Irene (Salisbury) Flagler. The eighth of ten children, he was born on October 28, 1895 and grew up on his parents farm in Reidsville, Albany County New York.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 18, 1917 in Albany for "the duration of war". On his entrance physical he was noted as being 69 1/2 inches in height, weighing 152 Lbs, having blue eyes with 20/20 vision, light brown hair and a ruddy complexion. At the time of his enlistment he was 21 years, 8 months, 20 days of age and his occupation was listed as that of a teamster. Being that blue stone quarrying was a significant business in Reidsville at the time and there were some connections through his mothers side of the family to this enterprise,his work likely engaged him in transporting heavy loads of stone down steep, winding roads by horse and wagon from the Heldebergs of western Albany County to the city.

Douglas Mellen Burckett

Submitted by: Jenifer Burckett-Picker {daughter}

Douglas Mellen Burckett born around 1895, Douglas Burckett served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1919.

Story of Service

My father, Douglas Mellen Burckett, was born in Brooklyn in 1895 and grew up in Montclair and Somerville, New Jersey. After finishing high school, plus a couple of years of military academy, he enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall of 1915 to study electrical engineering.

After his sophomore year, in the fall of 1917, he enlisted in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). He was in Wagon Company #3 of the 23rd Engineers Regiment and spent his first almost five months at various training camps in Maryland (Camp Meade, Camp Glen Burnie, and Camp Laurel). At Camp Meade, he met his lifelong friend, George W. Duncan “Dunk”, from Missoula, Montana.

Dad and Dunk shipped over from Hoboken, NJ to Brest France in early April 1918 on the U.S.S. George Washington. They spent just over a week in Brest at Camp Pontanezen, before entraining to Nevers in central France, where they spent the next almost four months working on the most important American railroad project in France in WWI – unheard of and forgotten today, but of vital strategic importance to the war effort – the Nevers Cut-Off (or as the French called it “La ligne americaine”).

Mohan Singh

Submitted by: Tanveer Kalo

Monahan Singh Mohan Singh born around 1884 or 1885, Mohan Singh served in World War 1 in the manner described below.. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

Mohan Singh was in Amballa Cantt, British India in either 1884 or 1885 to Heera Singh. He immigrated to the United States on December 13, 1913 from Southampton, England. Singh settled in Stockton, California. Mohan Singh attended the University of Utah and University of Minnesota for medicine. He is listed in the University of Minnesota's 1918-1919 student directory. The University of Utah has his student record.

Singh enlisted at ERC Fort Douglas, Utah on November 19, 1917. He was assigned to the Student Army Training Corps at the University of Minnesota. Private Singh did not serve overseas and was honorably discharged on December 14, 1918.

After the war, Singh returned to Stockton. In 1920 Singh applied for a U.S. passport to go to India for its southern climate on the advice of his doctor to help an infection of his lungs.

Charles Edward Dilkes

Submitted by: Georgia Dilkes Harris and Virginia Dilkes {daughters}

Charles Edward Dilkes served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known May 1, 1917 to September 25, 1919.

Charles Edward Dilkes

OUR FATHER, CHARLES EDWARD DILKES, kept a DAILY DIARY of his military service. His memoir, based on this diary, begins with the night of him leaving America. He wrote: "I wish you could share my anticipation with me when on August 6, 1917, at 6:30 p.m. all men were assembled with full field equipment and at 7:00 p.m. we marched through the huge iron gates...full of spirit and hope." Finally arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, he boarded the transport Finland, dropped down the bay off Tomkinsville, New York, while the "throbbing of engines acquainted us with our departure from the shores of America." It did not take long for the situation to change. A few weeks later on August 20, 1917, his fleet was within the danger zone. "I was coming on deck when a big explosion occurred, shaking the ship...The Captain from the bridge shouted out, "Why the hell don't you shoot that submarine!...Immediately our fore gun blazed away sending forth its deadly shell..."

When the U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917, our father’s patriotic spirit rose within him; he volunteered on the 1st of May. With an engineering background, he was assigned to Company F as a combat engineer in the 1st Division of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and fought under the command of General John J. Pershing. He earned the rank of sergeant, and was consistently called upon to lead his men to build first aid stations, communication trenches, and stables; to repair roads and parapets of the trenches; and to prepare the terrain for battle. This work was often done while he and his men were under enemy fire, which often meant putting down the shovel and picking up the rifle. His recordings of daily and significant enemy encounters stand out not only as consistent with history, but offered great personal insight into the rigors of war. He did not complain. He did not shirk his duties EVER in War, in his work, or with his family.

Fred Meyers

Submitted by: Pat Roblewsky {grandson}

5a30889e0d9a2 Fred cover

Fred Meyers born around 1896, Fred Meyers served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1919.

Story of Service

Enlistment

Fred Meyers, a 20 year old farmer from Britton, South Dakota, enlisted in the Army on April 18, 1917. Fred Meyers was assigned to the 59th Depot Brigade 1st S. Dakota Cavalry. In September of 1917 Fred was sent to Boot Camp at Camp Dodge, Iowa. Sometime in October of 1917, he was sent to Camp Cody near Deming in New Mexico for training. Fred Meyers was there until June 1918. In June he traveled to France by way of England to be among the first combat troops to fight in the war with Germany.

Training

Sometime around September 14 or 15, 1917 Fred Meyers left Britton, South Dakota for Boot Camp at Camp Dodge in Iowa. His travel took him to Omaha, Nebraska. Fred probably arrived at Camp Dodge on or about September 17, 1917. It is not known how long he was at Camp Dodge, but it can be assumed that this was his basic military training. He probably learned Military Order and Discipline, i.e. bed making, marching, rules and etc.

Chester Allen Bower and Charles Edward Bower

Submitted by: Valerie J. Young {Granddaughter and grandniece}

Chester and Charlie Bower 1918 300 (l to r) Chester and Charlie Bower in 1918

Chester Allen Bower born around 1894, Chester Bower served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1919.

Story of Service

Chester Allen Bower and Charles Edward Bower: “Brothers in Service"

Submitted by Valerie J. Young, granddaughter and grandniece

My maternal grandfather was Chester Allen Bower, and his brother, Charles Edward Bower (called Charlie), was my great-uncle. They were born in New Oxford, Pennsylvania and both served in the Great War.

Charlie was a Sergeant with the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and his dates of service were March 26, 1918 to October 20, 1918. He died of the influenza pandemic while at Camp Mills, Long Island NY; he was just 20½ years old.

Joshua Henry Bates

Submitted by: Joan Enders {niece}

Joshua Henry Bates born around 1895. Joshua Bates served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

Joshua Henry Bates' 22nd birthday was on the day Wilson declared war. He was a one-room teacher/principal in Wanship, Utah. In September 1917 he started the new school year, worked one week, and received his letter to report the following week.

Training began after a long train ride to Camp Lewis, Washington, a camp created for the AEF. He trained, studied French, recorded health reports for the 347th Machine Gun Battalion at the camp hospital, and became a private first class. After a camp illness in March 1918, they continued training.

By July 4, 1918 the 91st Division was in New York City, shipping off to England and then to France for more training. The full history of the Battalion can be read in History of the 347th Machine Gun Battalion by John U. Calkins, Jr.

Joshua serves as a messenger for the officers. Their battalion and others held the line against the German forces in the Meuse-Argonne, and received a letter of relief on 3 October 1918.

Everard J. Bullis, Sr.

Submitted by: Robert G. Bullis {Son}

Everard J Bullis Sr

Everard J. Bullis, Sr. was born around 1896. Everard Bullis served in World War 1 with the United States Marine Corps. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

Everard J. Bullis was my Dad, who enlisted in WW1 from St. Paul, Minn. He enlisted in the Marines and arrived in France on May 7, 1917.

June 8, 1918 he entered the fight in Belleau Wood. In July he went over the top with the 5th Marines in the St Mihiel Drive.

Later, during the battle on the Champagne front, he was wounded in his right lung. I, Robert G. Bullis, have that bullet, his medals and memorabilia, and most of the original letters to and from his parents and 4 sisters during his service.

Mary Alice Lamb

Submitted by: Mary Rohrer Dexter

Mary Alice Lamb square

Mary Alice Lamb served in World War 1 with a non-government service organization. The dates of service are: Known 1918-1928.

“Those who go forth ministering to the wants and necessities of their fellow beings experience a rich return, their souls being as a watered garden, and a spring that faileth not…”

– Lucretia Mott

Tucked away in the South West corner of Miami County, Indiana is the small community of Amboy where in 1844, the first Friends Worship service was held in Miami County and six years later, a log church was erected at a location that would later be next to Amboy Friends Cemetery. Until a school was built in 1872, the church doubled as a school. In 1867, the Panhandle Railroad was completed through Miami County and the small town of Amboy was platted as the location of the train station.

When, in 1871, Benjamin B. Lamb laid an addition to the original Amboy platt, his son Ezra must have been living in the area, for on July 28, 1878, Ezra Lamb and his wife Eliza were holding a beautiful baby girl in their arms whom they named Mary Alice.

As she grew, Mary Alice probably attended school in Amboy at a building known as The Academy. The years flew by and soon Mary Alice Lamb was attending school at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. She graduated in 1901 with a teaching degree. By this time, she was a young woman, 5’4 1/2” tall, sporting brown hair and brown eyes. Known to her friends as Alice, her first teaching job was at Stit School, four miles from the home in which she grew up. Every morning she would drive to school in a two-wheel cart pulled by a horse. If it rained, she would wear water proof garments or pull into the nearest barn lot until the rain let up. Sometimes, if the weather was very bad she would stay with the Stit family, on whose land the school was located.

Wayne Miner

Submitted by: Sidney Malone

Wayne Miner

Wayne Miner was born around 1890. Wayne Miner served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1917.

Story of Service

The Centerville (IA) Semi Weekly Iowegian

Monday, June 23, 1919

KILLED THREE HOURS BEFORE ARMISTICE

Word has been received here of the death in action of Private Wayman Minor, colored, of this city, in France, on the morning of November 11, just three hours before the signing of the armistice.

Minor went with the first colored group of drafted men for this vicinity and crossed to France after a period of training. He took part in several battles and the irony of fate made him a victim just before hostilities ceased.

Wayman Minor was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ned Minor, of near the Drum and Monkey mine. He also leaves a wife, she making her home with her mother in Kansas City.