Frank Clark Nicholas
Submitted by: Dorothy Eleanor Nicholas {Daughter}
Frank Clark Nicholas was born April 28, 1892. Frank Nicholas 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
Chapter One The Official Record
My father, Frank Clark Nicholas, was inducted into the army September 10, 1917 at Local Board 63 Brooklyn, NY. He was 25 years old. He was honorably discharged May 9, 1919.
Dad was a Private 1st Class in Company M, 308th Infantry, 77th Division, American Expeditionary Forces (the Metropolitan Division _ New York’s finest). He received training at Camp Upton Yaphank, NY. He sailed from New York for England April 7, 1918. From Brest, France he returned to New York on April 28, 1919 sailing on the SS America.
Dad’s ship leaving New York for England was probably the SS Statendam (the Statendam was torpedoed in July which corresponds to information in Dad’s letter dated July 23, 1918).
Early Blair Johnson, Sr.
Submitted by: Robin Doucette {granddaughter}
Early Blair Johnson, Sr. was born around 1886. Early Johnson 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 grandfather, Corporal Early Blair Johnson was born in Marion, Virginia on Oct.16, 1886. As a young man he was employed by Appalachian Power Company and he was subsequently transferred to work at the power plant at Switchback in McDowell County, West Virginia.
It was there that he met my grandmother, Mazie Trent. He proposed to her at Christmas of 1917 and gave her a beautiful diamond which she treasured all of her life. Their wedding was postponed when the US entered World War I as he did not want to leave his young bride as a widow “if something happened.”
Corporal Johnson trained at Camp Lee, Virginia before sailing for France from Norfolk, VA in May of 1918 aboard the USS Tenefores. He served in the Headquarters Detachment of the 155th Field Artillery Brigade of the famous 80th Division. His unit served in the Somme Offensive, the St. Miheil Offensive and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The 80th Division was the only A.E.F. Division called upon three times during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and it was ranked first of all National Army Divisions by the War Department.
Albert J. Lentz
Submitted by: Mark A. Snell and Eric Lindblade
Albert J. Lentz born around 1895. Albert Lentz served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1915 and the service was completed in 1918.
Story of Service
Private Albert J. Lentz of Company D, 18th Infantry, 1st Division, was the first soldier from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to be killed-in-action during World War I. Lentz fell near Cantigny, France on April 26, 1918, a month before the seminal American offensive of the war.
Albert had moved to Chicago about three years earlier but his parents, Israel and Susannah, still resided in Gettysburg at the time of Albert’s death.
Ironically, Private Lentz spent part of his childhood living in the house that today is known as “General Lee’s Headquarters,” which in July 1863 was owned by the widow Mrs. Mary Thompson.
While working in Chicago, Albert enlisted in the Regular Army and served in the Mexican Punitive Expedition. His regiment was one of the first American units to sail for France in 1917.
James Milo Miller
Submitted by: Myron M. Miller {Son}
James Milo Miller was born around 1893. Jamse Miller served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1918 and the service was completed in 1919.
Story of Service
The Service in World War I of James Milo Miller, 314th Field Artillery Regiment
February 1918 – March 1919
First, I would like to say that I have written a book about the experience of my father, James Milo Miller, in World War I based on all the letters he wrote to various members of his extended family during his time in that war, from the time of his being drafted in 1918 until he was discharged in March 1919. The book also describes the remarkable hospitality extended to the three regiments of the 155th Field Artillery Brigade (the 313rd, the 314th and 315th Field Artillery Regiments) during their two months of training on the French 75 in and near the city of Redon, Brittany, France.
The men of the 155th Field Artillery Brigade made such a favorable impact on the citizens of that city that there was a 100th year commemoration of the arrival of that brigade in Redon on June 9, 2018! The brigade entered Redon for their two months of training in the wee hours of June 13, 1918.
Harry Ford Beatty
Submitted by: Robert Kolar {Cousin}
Harry Ford Beatty born around 1894. Harry Beatty 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
About October 1st, 1918. Cpl. Beatty was out on a patrol in the Argonne Forest near hill 244 when he was wounded by a rifle bullet. He was shot through the hips, the bullet passing completely through his body. He was given 1st aid and later taken to the hospital where he died.
Harry's body did not come back to the states until 2 years later on September 11, 1920.
I recently visited the cemetery where Harry was buried and realized he did not have a headstone, and I worked with the VA and the local cemetery to get the appropriate military headstone.
Thomas Clay Carter, Jr.
Submitted by: S.W. Calhoun, Jr., Researcher, Lauderdale County Archives, Meridian, Mississippi
Thomas Clay Carter Jr. born around 1889. Thomas Carter 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
Meridian Soldier to Receive Posthumous Purple Heart
1st Lieutenant Thomas Clay Carter, Jr began his military service in August, 1917, by application and acceptance into Officer’s Candidate School at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. After graduating from Meridian High School, Thomas was a Cadet Officer at Marion Military Institute and an outstanding baseball player. His education was continued at the University of Virginia, where he was Captain of the baseball team.
Thomas Carter was well thought of by all who came in contact with him. Thomas graduated from Officer’s Candidate School in December, 1917, receiving a commission and being assigned to the 320th Machine Gun Battalion at Fort Gordon, Georgia. In April, 1918, the 320th Machine Gun Battalion and other American units were on the way “Over There” to join the American Expeditionary Force in France. Lieutenant Carter was excited about going to war and the part he would play in the eventual victory. He saw his duty and clearly understood why we were involved and why it was necessary for the Allied Cause to prevail.
Walter William Ratinski
Submitted by: Theresa Cobb, Research Volunteer, Polish American Congress
Walter William Ratinski born around 1888. Walter Ratinski 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
Walter William Ratinski served in World War I With the United States Marine Corps. His tour of duty with the U. S. Marine Corps lasted from his enlistment on December 15, 1917 in Rochester, New York, to his death in the trenches of France on June 6, 1918.
Walter Ratinski was born in Rochester, Monroe County, New York on June 7, 1888. He was one of thirteen children of Anthony and Josephine Borowiecka Ratinski. His parents emigrated from Posen Province, a partition of Poland, specifically from the area around Wagrowicz and Margonin, probably in the late1870’s. They settled in the city of Rochester, New York, and from records available, baptized most of their children in either St. Michael’s or St. Stanislaus Kostka Parishes.
Cyrus Ross Chamberlain
Submitted by: Patrick Mosites Employee at Minneapolis International Airport-airfield named in his honor Wold-Chamberlain Field
Cyrus Ross Chamberlain born around 1889. Cyrus Chamberlain served in World War 1 with the Lafayette Escadrille. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.
Story of Service
A native of Minneapolis, where his father was Chairman of the First and Security National Bank, Chamberlain joined the French Lafayette Flying Corps in June of 1917. He attended French school and was posted to Lafayette Escadrille Squad 98. Slightly older than his squadron mates, he was often more reckless than the rest.
During the German offensive in the spring of 1918, his squadron flew air superiority missions over the front lines and on 13 June, his group dove from 12,000 feet on some German aircraft. They had been lured into a trap and other German fighters attacked. Chamberlain was killed by machine gun fire from an enemy ship. He was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre.
Wold-Chamberlain Field - Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport was dedicated in his honor in 1923.
Earnest Groves Wold
Submitted by: Pat Mosites, Employee at Minneapolis International Airport-airfield named in his honor Wold-Chamberlain Field
Earnest Groves Wold was born around 1897. Earnest Wold served in World War 1 with the Lafayette Escadrille. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.
Story of Service
Ernest Groves Wold, served as a reconnaissance pilot in France’s First Aero Squadron, the Lafayette Escadrille, during World War I. Wold’s exceptional coolness and accuracy of fire enabled him to crisscross enemy lines four times on August 1, 1918, photographing German positions and forcing down at least two of five attacking German aircraft.
After machine gun bullets riddled his arms and killed his observer-photographer, Wold piloted his disabled plane back to base, flying with his feet and knees. He died in the crash landing, but his photographs safely reached French forces.
Five years later when the primitive “Speedway Airport” in south Minneapolis was about to be expanded and used for commercial and passenger traffic, it was decided that the new name for the facility should be Wold-Chamberlain Twin City Airport in honor of two war heroes, Ernest Groves Wold and Cyrus Foss Chamberlain. He rests at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France.