Stories of Service

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

William Earl Edgar

Submitted by: James L. Hartman {great nephew}

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William Earl Edgar served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known January 1918 to October 9, 1918.

My great-uncle, PFC William Earl Edgar was inducted into the U.S. Army about January 1918. He had moved from Canada to Braddock, Pennsylvania a few years earlier. He served in Company D, 112th Infantry, of the 28th Division.

After training at Camp Hancock in Augusta, Georgia; his unit was sent to France arriving there on May 16 and beginning combat operations in July. On September 26, his regiment began an attack in support of the Argonne Forest offensive. He was killed by enemy artillery fire on October 9, 1918 near Chatel-Chehery and buried near where he died. Later he was reburied at the Argonne American Cemetery.

After Congress passed a bill around 1920 authorizing government paid shipment and reburial of remains at the home of record of the decedent, his mother requested that his remains be shipped to his original home in Bobcaygeon, Canada. A military funeral and burial was held there in the fall of 1921. His coffin was draped with the flags of both nations.

I will never forget the sacrifice that my great-uncle made to preserve American freedom.

Cadet James J. Joffe

Submitted by: Hollace Ava Weiner

Joffee headstone Cadet James J. Joffe served in World War 1 with the United States Army Air Corps. The dates of service are: Known 15 Aug 1917 to 15 Jan. 1918.

Cadet James J. Joffe, 23, an American aviator at Hicks Field No. 1, Camp Taliaferro, north of Fort Worth, TX, was instantly killed at 4 p.m., Jan. 15, 1917, when the De-Havilland bomber he was piloting crashed to the ground.

Joffe was born in Baku, Asia Minor (now Azerbaijan), and immigrated to America in 1903 with his parents and five brothers and sisters. The family lived in Manhattan, NY. The 1910 U.S. Census lists the flyer's name as "Jacob Joffe," although his military records identify him as James J. Joffe, likely an attempt to Anglicize his name.

Joffe joined the Aviation Section, Signal Reserve Corps, and was nearing completion of his course when the fatal accident occurred. His branch of service was referred to as the "American Flying Corps."

According to the Houston Post, Joffe was several hundred feet in the air when he lost control of his "machine." His head and body were badly bruised, and several cerebral vertebrae broken.

BG Robert C McDonald MD

Submitted by: James McDonald {grandson}

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BG Robert C McDonald MD served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known Jun 1917 to Jun 1919.

My Grandfather was CO of Ambulance Co. #6 and assigned to the 1st Div, Jun 1917. In Dec 1917, he was assigned as instructor at the Sanitary School, Louhres, Fr. In Dec 1918, he was assigned to Gen HQ IG Chaumont , Fr. He returned to Ft. Sheridan, IL, in Jun 1919.

BG Robert C McDonald, served 36 yrs in the Army Med Corps. His last service, 1944-46 as Chief Surgeon 4th Service Cmd, Atlanta, GA . He passed away in Mar 1958, Walter Reed Hospital, at age 77.

Albert Huntington Easingwood

Submitted by: Richard C. Easingwood, St.

58d3d1666b6f8 1917 AHE

Albert Huntington Easingwood served in World War 1 with the the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known Aug 1917-1919.

He was in Boston when the US entered WW-I. He joined the Army in the summer of 1917 with the 10th Engineer Regiment and was sent to France. After "Stars and Stripes" (The official AEF paper) was set up in Paris, he was transfered to that organization where he served until the Armistice. He was an assistant treasurer and a reporter for "The Stars and Stripes Association, U.S.A." After the war, he was among a group of soldiers who were chosen to attend foreign universities for graduate work. He spent several months at University College of the University of London.

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}

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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}

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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.