Stories of Service

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

Charles H. Lewis

Submitted by: Tim Turner

58d1e0264db8d C. Howard Lewis

Charles H. Lewis served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 20 Jun 1917 to 4 Jun 1919.

His unit was out of Richmond, Va working has a Physician and associate professor at the Medical College of Virginia . He was assigned to the Ambulance Corp. No. 46. which was sent to train at Fort (Camp) Lee, Virginia. He was originally ordered to stay behind has the unit's Mustering Officer He was given the rank of Captain. He was assigned to Sanitary Train 305 8th Division (Organized at Camp Lee, Va August 1917 also called the Blue Ridge Division) He was assigned to and help establish the MRC(Medical Reserve Corp.) Amb Co. #319 Consisting of 12 donated ambulances by the Red Cross out of Richmond, Va They completed their training at Camp Lee and headed to New York where they boarded a ship called the USS Siboney made into a troop carrying ship. He also was a part of base Hospital #45 while over in France.

William John Clegg

Submitted by: Peter Clegg

50 Papa in France 1918

Served in France in a RR Arty unit as a corporal.

Dates Served: 1917-1919
Branch of Service: U.S. Army

Thomas J Powell

Submitted by: Wayne Cameron

58cecb460aa17 WW1 poem

Thomas J Powell served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1917-1919.

He was with the 321st Infantry. He was wounded, but was patched up and went back to fight.

Joseph Shires

Submitted by: Don Wright {Great Nephew}

no photo 300

Joseph Shires served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1917-1919.

My great uncle was a sergeant E-5 during the war. He was exposed to mustard gas during a German shelling and was thought to be dead, lying in a shell hole. A French nurse managed to drag him from the shell hole to safety. Joe later went on to join the Pa. State Police. I have photos of him in uniform as well as a letter he wrote to his sister from France. He suffered from a loss of smell and respiratory illnesses during the remainder of his life. He passed away in a V.A hospital in the early 50's. He proudly volunteered to serve and did so with pride.

George Leslie Stout

Submitted by: Nancy Trask

58d0a041a7520 SUI yearbook Stout after WW1

George Leslie Stout served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1917-1919.

George Leslie Stout is now well-known for his WW2 service as a leader of the "Monuments Men," saving European art and archives from the Nazis. He was portrayed by George Clooney in the movie by that name. It is less commonly known that George Leslie Stout served in France during WW1. He had graduated from Winterset (Iowa) High School in 1915 and spent 2 years at Grinnell (Iowa) College. In 1917-1919, George served as a private in the Army's 88th Division Medical Corps, and spent 10 months of his 2-year service in France. In addition to his regular duties, he was in the 351st Infantry Band, and entertained the troops in a production called "The Khaki Carnival." It is likely that Stout's observations of wartime devastation to art and culture during WW1 led to his determination to develop his plans for a trained troop of art conservators to work in the field of battle during WW2.

Thad Manning Mangum

Submitted by: Michael T. Mangum {grandson}

590146fdedb67 unnamed

Thad Manning Mangum served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 25 May 1918-25 June 1919.

Thad Manning Mangum served in Co. K 323rd Infantry Regiment 81st Army Division fighting Wildcats. He was mustered into the Army in front of the Courthouse in Greenville, NC on May 25, 1918 and by 3 am was en-trained aboard the Norfolk Southern in front of 800 crying Mothers, Sweethearts and somber Fathers.

After less than a month basic training at Camp Jackson, SC he was sent to Camp Sevier, SC for further training. By the end of July they boarded the British Ship RMS Melita. The English food was horrid and not fit for livestock as described by the men. Most were seasick on the crossing and for men like my grandfather who could not swim they lived in constant fear of being torpedoed and had the clouds of War hanging over them. After a short stay in England they boarded an old seagoing paddle wheeler and after a rough nighttime crossing of the English Channel were finally in France by August 16th, 1918.

They boarded the famous 40 x 8 cattle cars and were shipped to a training area where the French taught them how to go in and out of the trenches, in short how to survive. By September they were sent to the Saales Pass of the St Die sector of the Vosge Mountains. Americans were sent here to serve under the French and acclimate to combat. Up until the Americans arrival the Vosges had been a so called quiet sector however the Americans started pressing the attack and the Germans responded in kind.

Louis Elmer Larson

Submitted by: Erik Larson {grandson}

59010cc60cf46 Granddad

Louis Elmer Larson served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1917-1919.

Cpl. Louis Elmer Larson
Company H
2nd Battalion
353rd infantry
177th Brigade
89th Division

My Grandfather was born in Castle Rock, Colorado in 1887 to Swedish immigrant parents. He lived in Colorado until 1900 when the family of six returned to Cherokee County, Kansas where his father had initially homesteaded 160 acres after immigrating in the late 1860s. It was here that my Grandfather graduated from Columbus HS, taught for a year in a one room school and left to attend the University of Kansas in Lawrence in the Fall of 1908 where he played on the Freshman football team. He returned to Cherokee County the following year and continued teaching for the next few years. He was also part-owner of the Cherokee Co. Flour Mill with one of his brothers.

In October of 1917, at the age of thirty, he was drafted into the army and sent to Camp Funston near Ft. Riley, Kansas for basic training. On a weekend pass, he returned to Cherokee County and was married in late-April. The unit left Kansas on May 25th and arrived at their training area in France exactly one month later on June 25th, 1918.

George Allen Rhodes

Submitted by: Debra Dudek

58ceca8b9007e george allen rhodes

George Allen Rhodes served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 6 Dec 1917 to 27 Jun 1919.

George Allen Rhodes served as a private in Group A of the 303 Motor Transport Corps. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, George was the son of Elmer E. Rhodes and Ida L. Rhodes (nee Pope).

As a private in the MTC, George repaired military cars, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles. George enlisted in Detroit, Michigan in the MTC, inspired by the wartime recruiting poster of 'Earn While You Learn,' gaining trade skills while serving the country during the Great War.

George was recruited to drive ambulance trucks and other vehicles on the western front as needed. His younger brother, Franklin T. Rhodes, served in the 86th Areo Corps as a private. Both Rhodes boys were featured in several newspapers articles in Fort Wayne.

Clyde Carl Sumner

Submitted by: Dr. Gordon Sumner, Ph.D.

Clyde Carl Sumner mug

Clyde Carl Sumner served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 5 June 1917 - 14 Feb 1919.

Enlisted in the National Guard HQ'd in Jacksonville, FL, June 5th, 1917, age 23 and 9 months living in Vilas, (Liberty Cty), Florida.

Assigned to Company H, 1st Separate Battalion of Infantry, Florida National Guard.

Reassigned to Co B, 117th Machine Gun Battalion (still infantry) until 27 Oct 1918.

Reassigned to Co A, 324th Machine Gun Battalion until discharged.

Promoted to Corporal 6 Aug 1917; promoted to Sergeant 8 Jan 1918. Served overseas during WWI 16 Oct 1918 - 31 Jan 1919. Service #: 1,340,738.

Phillip Varco

Submitted by: Sarina (Varco) Renaldi {granddaughter}

Phillip Varco mug Phillip Varco served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known June 1917-Jjan. 1919.

My grandfather, Phillip Varco, along with his brother Jack, served in WWI as a member of the 132nd US Infantry, 66th Brigade, 33rd Division. He was born in Italy in Montemaggiore, Sicily in 1892, and immigrated to America in the early 1900s. He fought in the battle of the Somme in France and was shot in the stomach. While he was in the hospital, King George visited the wounded soldiers and presented my grandfather with a cane.

As a young child, I remember him holding me on his lap and showing me his stomach and telling me he had "two belly buttons."

Raymond Howard Leonard

Submitted by: Helen V. Leonard Poirier {granddaughter}

Raymond Leonard mug Raymond Howard Leonard served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known June 1916- 1920.

Raymond Howard Leonard – National Guard Journal June 18, 1916-Oct 14, 1916
Transcribed by Helen Leonard Poirier – 2015, granddaughter to Raymond.

Raymond Howard Leonard was born February 26, 1899 to Adelbert and Josephine (Davis) Leonard in Worcester, Massachusetts. At the time of his entry into the military, Raymond was residing at 8 Clive St. in Worcester with his parents, and younger siblings, sister Viola, & brothers Joseph and Frank.

The following transcription were from pages found in a Navy journal of Raymond’s son, Robert O’Donnell Leonard, who served in WWII. They are transcribed as written by Raymond.

June 18: Call to colors by Massachusetts Officers 8 pm in Boston June 18, 1916 militia alarm called started midnight saw headlines in papers at 6:20 a.m.