Purushottam Bhikajee Mulye
Submitted by: Tanveer Kalo
Purushottam Bhikajee Mulye served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known March 25, 1918 to December 17, 1918.
Purushottam Bhikajee Mulye was born on Feburary 14, 1884 in Bombay, India to Bhekajie V. Mulye and Gungabai Nimker. He arrived to New York City on October 27, 1912 from Southampton, England on the ship St. Louis, which was under the command of Master F M Dassow.
Mulye made his way to Ohio State University and was part of the Cosmopolitan Club, which helped native and foreign students interact with each other and learn about each others' cultures. Mulye then went to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where enlisted in the U.S Army on March 25, 1918 at age of 24.
As part of his service he was sent to the school of aerial photography in Rochester, New York until October 3, 1918. Then he was assigned to Langley Field in Hampton, Virginia until October 5, 1918. Afterwards, Mulye was with the school of aerial photography at Langley Field until November 12, 1918. He also was at Madison Barracks in New York at some point during his service. His second to last assignment was at Camp Garden City in New York until November 18, 1918.
His last assignment was Camp Garden City's photography section until his discharge. Mulye was honorably discharged on December 17, 1918 with the rank of private and did not serve overseas.
After the war , Mulye settled down in Rochester, New York. On May 10, 1919 he married 26 years old May L. Halpin.
By 1920, he was naturalized and a lecturer. By 1930, he worked in wholesale clothing manufacturing and had two sons with May, Gordon E and Richard A. Both his sons would also join the U.S military and serve during and post-World War Two. Mulye had also "Americanized" his first name to Paul by 1930.
On March 23, 1934 at age of 40, he received from the state of Pennsylvania compensation for his military service because he was a resident of the state during the time of his enlistment in the army. His compensation was $90 dollars for 9 months.
Around 1942, Mulye lived in Ontario, New York and worked on his farm at the age of 48.
