Lester W. Chase

Submitted by: T.J. Cullinane

598e42e80de17 Lester W. Chase

Lester W. Chase served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1916 - 1918.

The First to Fall; a Dreaded Milestone

Private Lester W. Chase, a shoemaker turned soldier, was the first service member from Derry, New Hampshire, to die of wounds sustained in combat during the First World War. Even with the 100th anniversary of his death fast approaching, his name remains firmly rooted in the fabric of the town as his fellow veterans elected to designate their meeting place as the Lester W. Chase Post Nine of the American Legion. Three generations of Legion baseball players have taken to the field with his name emblazoned on their chest, just one example of the community activities conducted in his good name.

Chase was pre-deceased by two Derry soldiers who succumbed to pneumonia. Charles E. Bitgood died in France on February 3, 1918, while assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division’s 15th Artillery Regiment. Just 22 years old, he was buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, in Romagne, France. An excerpt from the Derry Enterprise published on February 12, 1918, contained the following sentiment, “Charles E. Bitgood's memory will ever be honored as being the first soldier boy enlisted from Derry to answer the last roll call on the soil of France, while engaged in the service of his country in that foreign land.”

In spite of this exhortation, it is the memory of Lester W. Chase that remains honored rather than that of Bitgood. Such is the “glamor” of death in combat. As we’ll soon see, the death of Lester Chase was anything but glamorous. Based on the information currently available, Frederick R. Huson, the other Derry soldier who died before Chase, appears to have passed away just two weeks after joining the Army. Huson died while undergoing basic training on April 9, 1918 at Camp Devens in neighboring Massachusetts. Bitgood and Huson, along with Chase, are memorialized on the tablet set aside for those who died in service on the town’s World War One monument.

Hiram Edwin Piper

Submitted by: Richard Piper {son}

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

Hiram E. Piper entered the Army at Camp Dodge. He said he became a soldier when he was issued his hat and a broomstick to begin training. At first there was no rifle or uniform. Letters home told of his training and his concern for their sick cow at home on the farm.

He was a Sergeant by the time he was at Camp Pike, Arkansas in the winter of 1917-1918. Then he went to Camp Dix N.J. He said he remembered waking up in a huge gym filed with soldiers in cots and a startled nurse told him she thought he was going to die, but now that he was awake he would probably live. He asked why civilians were in the gym and she said he had the Spanish flu and had been unconscious. The civilians were family members trying to care for their sick sons because there were not enough doctors or nurses. Many soldiers had died and they were trying to help as many as they could.

My Grandpa Piper recovered and went to Paris France. He got off the troop train one foggy night to stretch his legs and peeked inside a white railroad car with a red cross on it. Inside he saw men without faces, arms or legs who were returning from the front lines. He said he deeply regretted being curious. By the time he reached his unit the war was ending and he saw no action.

Later in his 80's he would have morning coffee with his Army buddies in town. One had lost a leg when his unit was fighting in France while Grandpa was fighting the Spanish flu in New Jersey. He said he always enjoyed my letters to him when I was in the army in South Korea in the early 70's.