The 4th Corps Artillery Park was formed in July of 1918 at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina. Under the command of Lt. Colonel Fred A. Prince, the 4th Corps Artillery Park took shape, with the officers who made up the 4th Corps A. P. came from the Field Artillery branch of the army and not the Coast Artillery Corps.

The garrison at Camp Wadsworth consisted of several specialty units, including military police, construction workers, cooks and bakers, and a remount depot. It was also the main training camp for the 27th Division. There were also several non-divisional units also organized and trained at Camp Wadsworth, including anti-aircraft machine gun battalions, signal battalions, corps artillery parks, and pioneer infantry regiments.. The Pioneer Infantry Regiments at Camp Wadsworth were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 60th, 61st, and 62nd Regiments. It would be from several of these pioneer infantry regiments that the bulk of the enlisted men would be selected for the new 4th Corps Artillery Park.

The Artillery Park was made up of the following Companies totaling 33 Officers and 1,357 Enlisted men:

The essential duty of the 4th Corps Artillery Park was the transportation and handling of ammunition that would be used by the Field Artillery units that made up the IV Army Corps while on the Front Lines. This would include the transportation of ammunition from railheads in the rear areas to ammunition dumps at the front lines in the combat zones, and field repair of ordnance equipment, which included guns, trucks and typewriters.

In Spartanburg, South Carolina at Camp Wadsworth, in the mid-summer of 1918 the soldiers and officers find it extremely hot and humid. By August 9th temperatures reach 105-107 degrees and daily mile long marches that are conducted three times a day are the normal routine. The stated reason by camp personnel is said to be for medical examinations of the men. Physical examinations were not the only tests the men endured, as psychological and mental tests were also administered in order to select the men that would be transferred into the 4th Corps Artillery Park then forming for overseas duty. Those men selected then got vaccination shots and other medical checks.

In the last week of August, the men for the 4th Corps Artillery Park are nearly all selected and the camp goes on lockdown. The men now in the 4th Corps Artillery Park are now under double guard with no one allowed to leave the 4th Corps immediate area. Mail was held pending the departure for the Port of Embarkation, no telegraph messages or telephone calls are allowed. This only meant one thing to the men in the 4th Corps A. P., that they were on their way to France.

On the afternoon of the of August 30 the men were called out for an inspection of overseas equipment. They had already been ordered to get rid of all but Government-issued property. But, each man could place a small parcel of personal belongings, such as Red Cross sweaters, extra woolen socks, etc., in organization boxes to be carried along as company baggage. Accordingly, the men each made up the parcels and stowed them away in rifle boxes. At 2 o’clock on the afternoon of August 30, the men fell out for inspection in full equipment, and we were immediately ordered to march to the trains. And by 3 o’clock that afternoon the 4th Corps Artillery Park was on its way to France and the Front!

In September of 1918 the officers under the command of Lt. Colonel Prince were:

Upon Arrival at Camp Merritt, New Jersey, on September 1st, the men were put to work that Sunday afternoon, drawing woolen overseas clothing from the Quartermaster Corps depot. Early on Monday morning Colonel Prince, the Regimental Adjutant and the Medical Officer, along with Regimental Sergeant-Major Reeder Miller, boarded a truck which was following the 51st Pioneer Infantry and traveled with that unit on the six-mile trip to Alpine Landing on the Hudson River in order to board the transport they would be sailing on in order to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the men.

At Alpine Landing they boarded a river steamer and proceeded down river to Hoboken, NJ. Lt. Colonel Prince and the three others continued on across the river to the New York side, and arrived at Pier #59 and went aboard the SS City of Marseilles, a passenger liner formerly plying between English ports and India. She was built and completed in January of 1913 by the Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Co. Ltd. Jarrow, and owned and operated by the Ellerman lines Ltd., London. She was an 8,250-ton steamer with a reputation as a submarine fighter having had several encounters with U-boats in the Mediterranean while carrying British troops to Mesopotamia.

On September 3, 1918, the ship was loaded and ready for sea. The convoy they sailed with consisted of about twenty-two vessels, freighters and transports, and an escort of two destroyers and the British cruiser HMS Cumberland, which led the way.

The departure was to be at 10 o’clock on the morning of September 3rd, but delays resulted in moving back the sailing time until late in the afternoon. Finally, they cast off at 4:30 p.m. and proceeded down-river to a chorus of whistles from all the boats in the harbor. It was quite deafening and continued for quite a while, which made the boys feel good, although as they gazed upon Miss Liberty standing so tall in the harbor with a vague apprehension, wondering when they were going to see her again, or even if they would be able to see her ever again.

Down in the lower harbor, the convoy was forming with the sailing formation of three columns, the ore-boats and freighters on the outside and the troop transports in the center. This was done to protect the troopships in case of submarine attack. The destroyers plied continuously on the outskirts of the formation of ships, to the front and rear, never stopping their constant vigil while the cruiser steamed directly ahead of the line of transports. The City of Marseilles had the position of in the convoy directly behind the HMS Cumberland.

The voyage across was monotonous and uneventful. On the fifth-day out the convoy reduced speed to half-speed for a full day. This was done so that a Canadian convoy of ten transports and two destroyers carrying American troops could joined the convoy at sea. Another cruiser that took over the lead from the HMS Cumberland at which time she turned back for the North American coast.

As the convoy was still two-days out from Liverpool and now in the danger zone for U-boat attacks, a flotilla of American destroyers came racing out at full speed, circled around the convoy, probing the seas in all directions for the wake of a periscope.

Finally, the convoy reached the safety of the English coastal waters on September 16, and the City of Marseilles was at anchor in Liverpool Harbor for two days, before she proceeded up the Mersey River to the first lock of the Manchester ship canal. She then dismounted her top masts and funnel, and started the 40-mile trip up the Canal to Manchester, England. Finally, at anchor the debarking of the troops began.

Once assembled on the dock the 4th Corps A. P. was met by a British military band playing American songs. The English people lined the streets and threw cigarettes, chocolates, etc., to the boys of the 4th Corps A. P., which made for a great welcome to the American boys.

From there they proceeded to a rail station and boarded a train bound south to Southamton for the ship that would take them across the Channel to France. They spent the night at the British Rest-Camp in Bitterne Park. The weather was in true English style, a soaking rain, and the men were soaked to the bone during that march and without any place to dry out their things. They were quartered in tents, twenty-five men to a tent, and slept in the rain and wet clothes that night.

It was now time for the men of the 4th C.A.P. to cross the English Channel to France, and the evening of September 19th, was the date. Most Channel crossings were taken under the cover of the night to thwart German U-boat commanders peering eyes through a periscope looking for a load of troops. On the morning of September 19th, the men formed again, and marched down through the city and at 2:15 in the afternoon they went aboard a channel steamer the USS Charles.

In Southampton, the men of the 4th Corps A. P. were herded aboard the old Charles like cattle. All together there were 2,500 troops aboard the Charles to make the night crossing. It was about 5 o’clock in the evening as the Charles is steaming out of Southampton down the Solent Strait, around the Isle of Wright until they reached the southernmost point of the Isle of Wright. At that point the Charles then turned to port and headed directly across the Channel for the Port of Le Havre, France. The Charles clipped along at a good speed of twenty-six knots into the cover of the evening darkness with no lights showing, having no sighting of any U-boats and arrived safely at Le Havre, France at about 30-minutes past midnight.

Once again, the men proceeded through the streets and were given an enthusiastic greeting by the French people. But the mood quickly shifted as the men of the 4th Corps A. P. get the first sight of what combat on the front lines in this war can do to men. A slow-moving British hospital train containing seriously wounded men who had gone “over the top” only the previous morning came to a stop next to where the men of the 4th Corps A. P., were standing. The “Tommies” aboard the train were a bloody-bandaged lot and some seemed to the newly arrived Americans, that they may not make the trip back home to England. Now the men of the 4th Corps A. P. had a much more serious look on their faces as they marched out that morning. For everyone knew this could be their fate very quickly.

From Le Havre the men traveled a few hours and then rested for the night. The place at which they had stopped was built by Napoleon, but now was being used by American artillery men. At this rest-camp, the men had time to change clothing and have a good meal and bath. Tents were sand-bagged to prevent splinters spreading too far from bombs dropped from German planes. The men quickly learned that the sandbags made excellent pillows and that night they all had a good rest.

It was here that the men of the 4th Corps A. P.  were introduced to the signs on the little French railcars that read; “Chevaux 8, Hommes 40” and learned exactly what that meant. The Americans with their hob-nailed boots, packs and rifles were crowded 40-men to a car and took off for the south of France.

The train containing the men of the 4th Corps A. P. passed through Vendôme, Bretigny, and Versailles, from which station they could see the Eiffel Tower in Paris. They continued on through Étampes, Orleans, and finally, Tours for a short stop. By 3 o’clock in the afternoon they were once again on the move for Angoulême, and finally to Charente, which ended a three-day journey. After a “rest” the men began a 15-kilometer hike to a little French village named Montignac, and went into billets there, the date was now October 1, 1918.

It is now October 10, and the 4th Corps A. P. is still in Montignac, still in the same place and still no mail from home. October 16, comes and goes and still no mail from home since leaving the States. On October 17, a motorcycle came speeding into Montignac, and in the side-car were eight-sacks of mail marked “4th Corps Artillery Park.” But no sooner than the mail is passed out and everyone is still buzzing over news from home, an order is given to Lt. Colonel Prince. The order stated they were to move to the front lines.

Three days later on October 21, after another trip in the “Chevaux” Pullmans railcars, the 4th Corps A. P. is at the Bautzen Barracks in Toul, France, very near the front lines. The men are waiting for something to happen.

Bautzen Barracks is under airplane fire most of the day, and they are close enough to hear the guns and see the flash of the artillery on the horizon. Just as the men are getting off the train a German plane dropped out of the sky and started to strafe the railyard. Anti-Aircraft guns open up on the German and two American planes swooped in after the German. A few minutes after the German was driven off the men of the 4th Corps A. P. formed again on the station platform to march off to the barracks. Within moments after the men started to march off to the barracks once again another German plane dropped out of the sky and let go with two more bombs. No one was injured but this marked the first time that the men had taken enemy fire, and it gave them a taste of what was to come.

Lt. Colonel Prince received a wire from General Headquarters to go to Clérmont-sur-Marne, but on the way there the orders were changed and they were ordered to head for Toul in anticipation of serving in the drive on Metz, then being organized. They went through Tours, Orleans, Sens, Montargis, Troyes, Langres and finally to Dommartin-les-Toul, arriving there in a dense fog in the morning after three days and nights in freight cars. Toul is about 65-km south-southwest of Metz.

At Toul there were many troops, mostly artillery. They were unloading big guns, ammunition, stores, etc., preparing for the big offensive that was to end the war.  Here there was great activity, with gasoline tractors pulling big pieces of artillery, and men moving all sorts of equipment. This blur of activity was taking place while the sharp distinct crack of the artillery at the front laying down a barrage could be heard in the background. The big guns were in the woods just to the north of the city at that time plugging away at the German defenses north of Thiaucourt-Regniéville area. This distance from Toul to Thiaucourt is 38-km straight north from Toul.

On the second day after the arrival of the 4th Corps A. P. in Toul they shouldered their packs on the last long hike which was to bring them under the range of the enemy artillery for the first time. Now was when the faces of the men changed, for they were plainly nervous and watched each other to see how they were handling it. It was not fear that prompted this, for American troops do not show that trait like others, even though the bravest troops are all scared when going into action for the first time.

When going into battle it is strange to see how many Bibles can be found. But when they struck out for the Front Line, they started singing “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here” and one would have thought they were going to a ball-game instead of into the bloody sector just ahead. They hiked along the hard rock road north of Toul through Boucq, headquarters of the Fourth Army Corps; Langley, still bearing marks of German artillery fire; Lucy, where the French third line trenches were stretched for miles as far as the eye could see, twenty to thirty feet wide and practically impassable, barbed wire stretched in abundance and all guarded by aged sentries of the Territorials. By noon they halted on the open road, stretched out and ate their rations, washing it down with some sweet red wine or water as the taste called for.

As lunch was finishing planes were swarming over-head, bound for the German side or winging their way back to their home airbases. Every once and a while a stray enemy shell plopped into a field off to the left side of the road. Lt. Colonel Prince soon had them on the move again with gas masks at the alert and steel helmets firmly in place.

At night-fall, they took possession of an old monastery where some troops had been billeted before and now held by a detachment of Italians. The Italian troops didn’t take too kindly to the 4th Corps A. P. boys putting them out and no one would have thought the two outfits were allies fighting the same enemy. The men settled in for the night, but sleep was out of the question, for the batteries on the line were banging away only a short distance from them in the woods, ranging the city of Metz for the big drive.

These guns were 16-inch naval rifles, throwing a shell weighing 1,800 pounds to a distance of 30-miles. Their deep report made the old building rattle every time they fired a round at the Germans. The Germans were not about to take this without fighting back, but their poor marksmanship in trying to take out the naval gun made several shots fall on the place the boys of the 4th A. P. we’re hunkered down at. One German shell during the night, hit one of the buildings and blew off the corner of the old monastery. Strict orders were issued to show no lights, but the enemy must have been able to see in the dark, for he kept right on throwing over hot steel. In the morning light the boys were all glad to see the naval guns being hauled farther to the right, which meant that the dastardly Germans had moved back.

As the first light of the day broke on October 29th, Colonel Prince, his Adjutant and Regimental Sergeant-Major Miller went closer up to the line, to the Headquarters of the IV Army Corps, which was in the town of Seicheprey, which was about two-thirds of the way to Thiaucourt from Toul. The Germans were just over the hills in front of them toward Thiaucourt. Seicheprey was a dust heap, only the cellar of one of the buildings being used as the shelter for Major-General Muir, the commanding officer the Fourth Army Corps, was left.

Colonel Prince then reported to Major-General Muir and their conversation lasted less than ten minutes. Colonel Prince and Major-General Muir knew each other before the war but now was not the time to catch up on old times. Colonel Prince had his marching orders and was off back to his command quickly.

On their way back to the 4th Corps A. P. area, Colonel Prince came to a road that was being heavily shelled at almost exact intervals. The Colonel was in a hurry, so rather than wait he ordered Sgt.-Major Miller who was the driver, to put on all possible speed and at the next lull in the firing so, as to cover that space as fast as the old car would make it. Sgt.-Major Miller later remarked that they crossed that spot at break-neck speed and that for a green driver his driving skills just got a lot better in a hurry.

For the drive into Metz the 4th Corps Artillery Park was to feed shells and powder to the artillery batteries and gun-crews on the line. For the next several days and nights the men of the 4th Corps Artillery Park worked under the gunfire of the American batteries and the Germans firing back at them. They were bombed by night-flying planes and it was during this time that the first deaths occurred. Three men from the 4th Corps A. P. were killed during gas shells dropped from German planes.

On the night of November 10-11, the IV Corps makes an attack toward Vionville, in the Plaine de Woëvre, just to the west of Metz, in order to penetrate the German positions between Prény and Lachaussée, both of which are on the west side of the Moselle River. At the time of the Armistice the IV Army Corps along with the 4th Artillery Park were on the Line between Bois d Dommartin-les-Toul and Marimbois Fme to the northern edge of the Bois de Haravilliers and Fme des Hauts-Journaux. The 4th Corps Artillery Park hauled shells and powder as the Americans advanced on Metz until finally on the morning of November the 11th the Germans had had enough and gave in.

Here they remained for the next two days, keeping watch for any further actions the Germans might take. On November 13 the IV Corps extended its boundary to the left and took over for the French XVII Corps. At that time the IV Army Corps assumed tactical control of the American troops including the 33rd Division.

It was on November 15, 1918 that the U. S. IV Corps, which at the time was made up of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Divisions, is selected to form the new Third Army, which was tasked with the march into Germany. On November 17th the U. S. Third Army of which the 4th Corps Artillery Park was now a part of, began the move into Germany and the Rhine River. The 4th Corps Artillery Park advances from Thiaucourt through Chambley, Doncourt-lés-Conflans, Moyeuvre-la-Grande (Lorraine), Gandrange, Thionville, Malling, and finally crossing into Luxemburg at Schengen, Luxemburg. Schengen is on the France-Luxemburg border just north of Metz. On November 21 while in Luxemburg they change course slightly and on December 1, 1918 cross over into Germany for the first time and occupy a line consisting of the following towns; Greimerath, Gusterath, Waldrach, and Hetzerath in Germany. Hetzerath sets on the north side of the Moselle River.

By December 10th the Third Army occupies the left bank of the Rhine River between Bacharach and Boppard, Germany, just to the south of Coblenz (Koblenz). It was on December 13 that elements of the 1st Division begins to cross the Rhine River at the Coblenz Bridgehead, with the IV Corps in support. Here the 4th Corps Artillery Park would support the Third Army as it keeps watch on Germany and conducts matters of civil administration through May 11, 1919.

Now the 4th Corps A. P. had set up camp in Mayen, Germany and by January had settled in enough that they had begun to print a Newspaper named the “Fourth Corps Flare” which was the “Official organ of the 4th Corps Artillery Park.” They billed the publication as the “Only American newspaper printed in Germany.” By January 25, 1919 the paper was on its Fourth edition, and in that issue was an article entitled “4th C.A.P. Vaudeville Show to Tour Occupied German Towns.” The 4th Corps A. P. troupe was known as “Prince’s Circus” named after their commanding officer Lt. Colonel Prince. The traveling band was the band from the 36th Field Artillery and “Prince’s Circus” was under the direction of 2nd Lt. John S. Dagilaitis.

In May of 1919 the services of the 4th Corps Artillery Park were no longer needed and they began their long march back through Germany and Luxemburg and back into France once again. They were then ordered to turn in all ordnance material and once that had been completed headed west across France for the port city of St. Nazaire to await ship transportation back home to the States.

It was on June 16, 1919, in St. Nazaire that the former Grace Line freighter the USS Santa Paula was assigned to carry the 4th Corp Artillery Park back home. But the Santa Paula did not have sufficient rom for the entire 4th Corps A. P. The USS Julia Luckenbach was available and was in port at St. Nazaire at the time and so, Lt. Colonel Prince, Captain Czak, and 2nd Lt. Webster along with 23 enlisted men of the Headquarters Company; Captain Flinn and 192 enlisted men of the Park Battery went aboard the USS Julia Luckenbach. On June 16, 1919, both the Santa Paula and Julia Luckenbach steamed out of St. Nazaire to begin their voyage westward back across the Atlantic.

On June 28, 1919 the Santa Paula and the Julia Luckenbach reached New York Harbor and Lady Liberty is once again in sight. Both ships tie up in Hoboken, New Jersey and they begin the off loading of the troops. The 4th Corps Artillery Park is then assigned to Camp Stuart, Virginia and Camp Mills, New York where the demobilization process began and was completed through July of 1919, thus ending the life of the 4th Corps Artillery Park.

The above photo is entitled "Back from France, Park Battery, 4th Corps Artillery Park" and was taken at Camp Mills, New York. This would date the photo to after June 28 to the first week in July 1919. There is one officer seated in the front row, 11th man from the left end, which is likely to be Captain Frank Flinn, the commanding officer of the Park Battery. There are 167 enlisted men is this photo so, at least 25 enlisted men had moved on or had been discharged at the time of the taking of the photo. One officer, Captain Flinn and 192 enlisted men of the Park Battery had sailed together aboard the USS Julia Luckenbach and arrived in New York on June 28, 1919.

4th Corps Artillery Park Muster

As I find and discover names of the men who served in the 4th Corps Artillery Park I will profile them here in this section. If you have a family member or know of a soldier who was serving in this unit Please e-mail me and I will add them to this section.

PFC Charles Lewis Dunning, Truck Company E

Charles Lewis Dunning was born in Dunmore, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania on August 5, 1893 to Julia (Rohrbacher) and Elwood Dunning.

Charles was the third of eight children born to Julia and Elwood. Elwood worked as a butcher in a slaughter house to provide for his family. By the spring of 1917 the Dunning family had moved to a farm near South Sterling, in Wayne County, Pennsylvania where Elwood was then farming. Charles was then in his 23-year and was working the farm with his father.

It was on June 5, 1917 that the first call up for the Federal Draft was begun. And as such Charles L. Dunning, a tall, medium built man with grey eyes and brown hair registered his name as he was required to do, he was single at the time. It would not be until August 5, 1918, that Dunning entered the Army. Private Charles L. Dunning Service No. 4237051, was first assigned to Company E, 57th Pioneer Infantry. It was in July of 1918 that the 4th Corps Artillery Park was being formed at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina and it was on August 28, 1918 that Pvt. Dunning was transferred into Truck Company E, 4th Corps Artillery Park.

In Late August the 4th Corps Artillery Park was sent to the Port of Embarkation Hoboken, New Jersey for transportation to France. At 8:05 in the morning on September 3, 1918 at Pier No. 39 in New York, troops of the 4th Corps Artillery Park went aboard the SS City of Marseilles. By mid-morning all troops were aboard. Pvt. Dunning settled into his bunk for the trip across the pond. At 4:30 that afternoon the SS City of Marseilles was outbound for Liverpool, England.

Once they Arrived in England they were then moved to a rest camp and then quickly moved to the coast for the trip across the Channel to France. The 4th Corps Artillery Park was assigned to duty along with the 2nd Corps Artillery Park to duty in the Toul, France Sector. They were in this sector from October 30, 1918 through the end of the war on November 11, 1918.

The 4th Corps Artillery Park was selected as part of the units that would march into Germany after the war ended. Private Charles L. Dunning of Truck Company E would have driven his truck into Germany and to the Rhine River where they crossed at the Coblenz Bridgehead on November 17, 1918. The 4th Corps Artillery Park stood watch over Germany until May 11, 1919 when they were relieved from this duty.

On June 1, 1919, Private Dunning was advanced in grade to Private First-Class. By the second week in June the 4th Corps Artillery Park was heading for St. Nazaire, France to await transportation back to the States. On June 15, 1919 the USS Santa Paula heads out of the St. Nazaire Harbor with the 4th Corps Artillery Park aboard. On the passenger list PFC Dunning listed his mother Julia of South Sterling, Pennsylvania as the person to contact in case of an emergency. On June 28, 1919, The Santa Paula reached New York Harbor and PFC Dunning steps foot on the good old American soil once again.

The 4th Corps Artillery Park then went to Camp Stuart, Virginia where the demobilization process began. PFC Charles L. Dunning was Honorably Discharged on July 3, 1919, at Camp Dix, New Jersey.

After his return from France Charles Lewis Dunning married Mable Smith and they made their home in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania. In 1930 Charles was working for the railroad and by 1942, Mable and Charles were still living in Tobyhanna, where Charles was working for the Standard Oil Company. Mable and Charles had two daughters, Frances and Janet.

On January 29, 1968 Mable passed away and she was buried in the Pinegrove Cemetery in South Sterling, Pike County, Pennsylvania. Sometime there after Charles remarried, her name was Mildred A. and she was born in 1915.

Charles would pass away on October 28, 1984 and his second wife Mildred passed away on March 6, 1992. Both are buried in the Saint Gertrudes Cemetery in Colonia, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

1st Lt. Edward Taylor Hunt Talmage, Jr., Truck Co. D

In the summer of 1917 Edward Taylor Hunt Talmage, Jr., was then attending the Saint Mark’s School, in Southborough, Massachusetts near Boston. This was an all-boys school and on August 27, 1917 Edward joined the R.O.T.C. serving with the 1st Battery, 2nd ROTC out of Fort Myer, Virginia. By November 27th of that year, Talmage had received a commission as a Second Lieutenant with the Field Artillery, Reserve Corps.

Talmage then served as the Assistant Instructor at the Field Artillery Training Camp at Camp Stanley, Texas from December 15, 1917 through April 10, 1918. On May 1, 1918, Lt. Talmage was transferred to the Headquarters Company, Field Artillery Replacement Depot at Camp Jackson, South Carolina until July 24, 1918. On July 25, 1918 Lt. Talmage reported for duty at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina where he was assigned to duty with Truck Company D of the 4th Corps Artillery Park then forming for duty in France.

On August 14, 1918 Talmage was promoted to First Lieutenant, Field Artillery, and when the 4th C.A.P. sailed for France, on September 3, 1918, aboard the SS City of Marseilles, he was second in command of Truck Company D.

First Lt. Talmage served with the 4th C.A.P. while they were engaged in the Thiaucourt Zone from October 21 through the end of the war. And then after the war served with the 4th C.A.P., with the Army of Occupation during the March to the Rhine River until he was released from duty with the 4th C.A.P. on April 20, 1919.

First Lt. Talmage was Honorably Discharged from Active Duty on May 27, 1919 at Camp Meade, Maryland. He returned home to his wife Constant at their home at No. 7 East 55th Street in New York.

Sgt. Keith R. Comstock, Truck Co. C

Sergeant Keith R. Comstock, Truck Company C, 4th Corps, Artillery Park, was the Son of Robert and Lola Comstock, and wife Hettie Comstock. Keith enlisted into the Army on May 23, 1918, at the Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Private Comstock was advanced to Corporal on October 14, 1918, and made Sergeant on March 27, 1919.

PFC Comstock sailed overseas September 3, 1918, with the 4th C.A.P. aboard the SS City of Marseilles. While serving with truck Company C, Corporal Comstock participated with the 4th C.A.P. in battle during the time they were engaged at the Thiaucourt Zone from October 23 to November 11, 1918. And continued to serve with them during the Army of Occupation and the March to the Rhine River. Sergeant Comstock returned with his unit aboard the USS Santa Paula and was then Honorable Discharged on July 8, 1919.

Keith R. Comstock, 63, of 227 South Academy Street, a retired Burlington Railroad conductor, died unexpectedly from a heart on August 1, 1962 at 2:30 AM in his home.
Funeral services were held at the First and Puckett Funeral Home, with Rev. John Kern of the First Baptist Church officiating. Mrs. Harry Allender was organist. Masonic services were held Thursday evening by Alpha Lodge. Master was Jay Davis and secretary, Clyde Landon. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Pallbearers were H.L. Polite, T.G. Brown, H. Allender, F.C. Stiarwalt, D.W. Suydam and J.L. Fagan. The Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted military services at the cemetery. Taking part were Commander Verne Walker; chaplain, James Deprima; flagbearers and firing squad, Eugene Booth, Van Greenup, Frank Smead, Bill Mates, John Fulton and Merton Shiffer, and bugler, Stan Wilmonth. Burial was in Memorial Park Cemetery, Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois.

As a veteran of World War I, Mr. Comstock was the first commander of a World War I veteran’s organization at Burlington, and was a member of Knox County VFW Post.
In Masonic circles, he was a member of Alpha Lodge, El Bon Shrine Club, Peoria Consistory, White Shrine, Murga Grotto and Nonpareil Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. Other memberships were held by Mr. Comstock in the First Baptist Church, Galesburg Aerie of Eagles, and the Order of Railroad Conductors.

He was born April 14, 1894, at Keosauqua, Iowa, and resided in Galesburg, Illinois most of his life, retiring from the railroad in 1957. Mr. Comstock was married to Hettie Olson April 27, 1918, in Galesburg.

Survivors are the widow; a son, Keith R Comstock, Jr, Berkeley, CA; two daughters, Mrs. Richard (Lola) Johnson of Chillicothe and Mrs. Charles (Shirley) Swegle of Galesburg; two sisters, Mrs. Luther (Lenore) Sandridge and Mrs. Henry (Olive) Page, of Galesburg; his stepmother, Mrs. Myrtle Comstock of Moline; nine grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Sgt. Comstock's Gravestone

Sgt. Keith R. Comstock, Truck Co. C. 4th Corps Artillery Park

PFC Roy Brandt Rich, Service No. 2420712, Truck Co F

In the Gettysburg National Cemetery on August 3, 1962, a 75-year old soldier of the First World War is lowered into the earth. A white marble military grave stone is placed upon his grave and the grass covers the spot where the ground was opened for his body, years have passed and this white stone is all that remains of the man who wore a uniform ready to give his life so that others could live a Free life as they chose. His story should not be forgotten and perhaps we will never know what the cost was to him to wear that uniform and protect our Freedom. Fifty-seven years have passed since the earth was opened to accept his body and he deserves the dignity of preserving the story of his life.

Roy Brandt Rich was born on August 7, 1886 in Etna, Pennsylvania. Etna is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania located along the Allegheny River, on the opposite side of the river from Pittsburgh. Etna was named after the volcano Mount Etna, with an obvious reference to the many blast furnaces, steel mills, and other manufacturers located there. Etna was the last stop on the No. 2 streetcar line of the Pittsburgh City Railway, which closed in 1952. And from 1907 through 1931 Etna was also a stop on the Interurban Pittsburgh & Butler Street Railway linking Pittsburgh to Butler.

Roy was the fourth of five children born to Mary and William Rich. At the turn of the century in June of 1900 the Rich family was living just outside of Etna where William worked day labor jobs to provide for his wife and family of two sons and three daughters. The eldest son John R., who was 23-years old at the time was working as an electrician, and still lived at home. Roy growing up just across the river from Pittsburgh may have taken the street cars into Pittsburgh to catch a Pirates baseball game from time to time.

By the summer of Roy’s 30th year, in 1917, America had entered the war in Europe. Roy at the time was a single medium built man who had blue eyes and light sandy hair. On June 5, 1917, America had begun the first call up for the Federal Draft. Roy at the time was living just outside of Glenshaw, which is in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and was working on the John Herron farm. On June 5th Roy registered for the Draft in Precinct No. 6 of Shaler Township.

For the rest of the year and into the late summer of 1918, Roy worked on the farm for John Herron. It was on his 32nd birthday, August 7, 1918, that Roy was inducted into the United States Army. Private Roy Rich was sent to Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina where he was serving in Company H, 4th Pioneer Infantry.

Pioneer Infantry units were usually engineering or construction units, sometimes being called “Sappers.” These Pioneer Infantry units were tasked with field fortification, building military camps, bridges and roads, and in the construction and repairing of military railroads. Pioneer units were used extensively at the front lines during WWI building all sorts of fortifications and combat demolitions.

At Camp Wadsworth the 4th Corps Artillery Park, a new unit that was being formed for service in France, was selecting men from the several Pioneer Infantry units then stationed at camp Wadsworth. On August 30, 1918, Private Rich was selected from his unit and transferred into Truck Company F of the 4th Corps Artillery Park.

On the passenger list of the SS City of Marseilles is listed, with the men of Truck Company F, 4th C.A.P., the name of Private Roy B. Rich, Service No. 2420712. Pvt. Rich listed his mother, Mary Rich of 138 Henderson Street in Pittsburgh as the person to contact in case of an emergency.

Pvt. Rich served in combat with the 4th C.A.P in France at the front lines. And then after the war would have been with his unit during the March to the Rhine River and the American Occupation Forces in Germany. On March 9, 1919, Pvt. Rich received a promotion to Private First-Class. On June 16, 1919, the 4th C.A.P. was returning back home and was loaded aboard the USS Santa Paula and sailed from St. Nazaire, France, arriving in New York on June 28. Upon arrival PFC Rich was Honorably Discharged from Active Duty at Camp Dix, New Jersey on July 3, 1919.

Within a few months of his arrival back in the States Roy Rich married a woman named Emma who was two-years older that him. By January of 1920 Emma and Roy were living in a rented apartment at 820 Pennsylvania Avenue in the borough of Oakmont, which was in Allegheny County. Roy at the time was working as a pipe fitter for a tool works in the area. By the spring of 1930 Emma and Roy were living in York, Pennsylvania in an apartment located at No. 35 North Belvidere St. where Roy was working for an ice manufacturing plant. Living in the apartment with Emma and Roy was his 81-year old widowed mother Mary.

Sometime after this Roy Rich began to have issues in his life that were beyond his control. We will never know for sure what caused these issues which seemed to be of a mental nature. It may have been due to delayed stresses from the war, which we now know as PTSD, but we can only guess. But the facts of his life during the 1930’s paints this picture. Sometime after 1930 and before 1937 Emma had died of unknown reasons and Roy’s life spiraled into a state where he was listed as “living as a mentally incompetent veteran” on his 1937 Pennsylvania Veterans Compensation Application form. In March of 1937 Roy was paid $110 for Veterans Compensation and a man by the name of G. M. Fehr acted as Roy’s Guardian of Roy’s estate. Fehr worked for the Commonwealth Trust Company of Pittsburgh. Roy must have been living on his own and likely just did odd jobs from time to time. At least by the spring of 1940 Roy was working as a laborer on a farm, and was living somewhere in Loganville, Pennsylvania.

The last 22-years of Roy’s life we do not know what took place and we can only guess that it was not pleasant times for Roy. About 1957 Roy was diagnosed with heart disease and later on had bladder cancer. The end of Roy Brandt Rich’s life came at 4:05 in the afternoon of July 26, 1962 when Dr. Philip L. Roseberry pronounced his death. Likely Roy died alone with only Dr. Roseberry at his side. Not a fitting end for a veteran who would have laid down his life to give Freedom to another American citizen.

George Sleeger of the Henry Sleeger Funeral home took Roy’s body and prepared it for burial. A friend of Roy Rich, Catherine Coy of 158 S. Duke Street in York, Pennsylvania was the person listed in the Next of Kin section of the form filled out by the Sleeger Funeral Home. They are likely the ones who saw to it that this veteran was buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery with a proper white marble military gravestone. Long before PTSD was a known condition, veterans were suffering the effects of what war does to the human mind, and the soldier who lies buried under this white marble gravestone may be one such soldier. Rest well Private First-Class Roy Brandt Rich, and Thank You for your service to our Country.

Roy Brandt Rich Pennsylvania PFC Truck Co. F 4th Corps Artillery Park August 7, 1886 • July 26, 1962

Pvt. Johannes Willert, Service No. 3367013, Truck Co. E

Pvt. Johannes Willert is an example of a replacement soldier who joined the 4th Corps Artillery Park after they had arrived in France. Pvt. Willert was stationed at Camp Hancock, Georgia in the summer of 1918 and was selected as that Camp’s automatic Draft detail of men to be sent to France.

Pvt. Willert was then placed into a draft detail of men from Camp Hancock known as Company No. 3, Camp Hancock September Automatic Replacement Draft. Company No. 3 consisting of 2 officers and 249 enlisted men on September 26, 1918 then went aboard the SS France then Pier No. 86 in New York and sailed for Europe at #:35 that afternoon.

On the passenger list for the September 26 sailing Pvt. Willert listed his father William of St. Croix, County, Wisconsin as the person to contact in case of an emergency. Once in France Pvt. Willert then joined the 4th Corps Artillery Park and was placed into Truck Company E.

Pvt. Willert would have been with the 4th C.A.P. while they were in combat in the Thiaucourt Zone and also during the march to the Rhine River and during the Occupation of Germany. Pvt. Willert would return home with Truck Co. E, 4th C.A.P. aboard the USS Santa Paula on June 16, 1919. Pvt. Willert was then likely Honorably Discharged from Active Duty in July of 1919.

Regimental Supply Sergeant, Nicholas Foster Connor, Service No. 2998665, HQ Company

Regt. Supply Sgt. Nicholas Foster Connor was the senior Supply Sergeant of the HQ Company of the 4th C.A.P. and sailed to France with that unit aboard the SS City of Marseilles on September 3, 1918. He would have served in combat with the 4th C.A.P. and also participated in the march to the rhine River and Occupation Duties. Regt. Supply Sgt. Connor would have returned to the States aboard the USS Julia Luckenbach with the HQ Company. Connor was a Chicago, Illinois man and his home of address was 4600 North Kedzie Ave. in Chicago.

Regimental Supply Sergeant Nicholas Foster Connor of the HQ Company 4th C.A.P. This photo was taken on January 26, 1919 while serving on Occupation Duty.

Captain Henry Edward Billington, Commanding Officer, Truck Company C

Henry Edward Billington was commissioned a First Lieutenant, Field Artillery Reserve Corps upon completion of Officers Training Camp at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia on November 27, 1917.

First Lt. Billington reported to the 335th Field Artillery then stationed at Camp Pike, Arkansas, on December 18, 1917, and remained there as the Battery Commander of Battery A. He held this command until May 7, 1918.

On May 8, 1918, Billington was transferred to the Field Artillery Replacement Depot at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. Lt. Billington was assigned to the 5th Regiment, and was battalion adjutant until July 2, 1918, when he was advanced to the rank of Captain, Field Artillery, National Army. While serving with the 5th Regiment Captain Billington served as the regimental inspector-instructor.

As the 4th corps Artillery Park was being formed at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, Captain Billington had orders to report to Lt. Colonel Prince for duty with that unit. On July 24, 1918, Lt. Colonel Prince gave him command of Truck Company C of the 4th C.A.P.

Captain Billington sailed with the 4th C.A.P. aboard the SS City of Marseilles on September 3, 1918, arriving in England and then to LeHavre, France. While in command of Truck Company C, they were in operations between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers from September 26 through November 11, 1918, and crossed into Germany on December 2, 1918. Captain Billington was stationed at Mayen, Germany, until February 1, 1919, when he was placed in military command of the town of Urmitz-Bahnhof, Germany, from February 1 to May 25, 1919. Urmitz-Bahnhof, is located on the southern bend of the western side of the Rhine River just north of the city of Coblenz (Koblenz), Germany.

His duty in Germany was up and it was time for Captain Billington to return back to the States. On May 26, 1919 Captain Billington left Urmitz-Bahnhof, Germany and travelled to Saint-Aighan, France and reported to the Saint-Aighan Casual Company. This was a loose company of officers that were returning to the States and his company of officers then headed out for Brest, France where on June 10, 1919 they boarded the SS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm and sailed the same day. They arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1919. Captain Billington reported to Mitchel Field on Long Island, New York on July 1, 1919 and was Honorably Discharged from Active Duty at his present rank of Captain, Field Artillery.

PFC Harry Whitfield Grady, Truck Co. C

Private First-Class Harry Whitfield Grady, Service No. 814704, served in Truck Company C of the 4th Corps Artillery Park during World War One. At the age of 53, Harry Grady passed away on April 16, 1932, and he was buried in Blackshear, Georgia. He had a white marble military stone on his grave and it lay peaceful for many years weathering the time until the white marble had begun to wear away. And then one day vandals snapped off the stone and it lay flat allowing the weather to attack it even more. It would not be until 78-years after Harry Grady was laid to rest that local members of the Francis S. Bartow United Daughters of the Confederacy, Chapter 83, sought to rectify to sad condition of two soldiers’ grave sites located in the Blackshear City Cemetery.

In the winter of 2009-2010, the group led by Margie Mae Blythe-Poland began to take steps to restore the two soldier grave stones that had been worn away by the weather and broken by vandals. The two soldiers were:

According to Margie Mae Blythe-Poland, one veteran's military grave marker had been destroyed by vandals and the other veteran's military grave marker has been faded by the passage of time. One veteran fought for CSA, 1861-65, and one veteran fought in WWI, 1917-18. Margie was quoted in saying "Both heroes are soldiers who put their lives on the line for us," she said. "They were the defense that surrounds us always and keeps us safe. We can never offer enough gratitude for our soldiers in all of our Wars...”

By late winter of 2010 new military grave stone had been placed on both soldier’s graves. On Saturday March 27, 2010, military grave marker dedications for the two soldiers, Pvt. Shaw and PFC Grady were held at 3 p.m. in the Blackshear City Cemetery, Blackshear, Georgia, at the respective gravesites of each soldier’s new grave stones.

Harry Whitfield Grady was born on October 15, 1878 in Blackshear, Georgia to Maria Stewart Grady and Hatch Whitfield Grady. Harry was the youngest of five children in the family.

During WWI Harry joined the Army and was serving at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina when he was transferred into the Truck Company C, 4th Corps Artillery Park. PFC Grady sailed with the 4th C.A.P. for Europe aboard the SS City of Marseilles on September 3, 1918. PFC Grady remained with Truck Co. C throughout the war serving in combat and during the post Armistice march to the Rhine River and Occupation of Germany until June of 1919.

PFC Grady sailed back to the States aboard the USS Santa Paula with the 4th C.A.P. and was Honorably Discharged from Active Duty. On both sailings PFC Grady listed his eldest brother James of Valdosta, Georgia, as the person to contact in case of an emergency.

Once back home he married Edna Constance Fitzpatrick (1885-1984). Edna and Harry had moved to Fort Myers, Florida and were living there, when in early 1932 Harry Grady had contracted Tuberculous which had advanced rapidly. By March 20, 1932 he was seeking treatment in the Oteen Veterans Hospital in Ashville, North Carolina. On April 16, 1932 at 7:20 in the morning Harry Grady had lost his battle with T. B. and passed away. His body was transported back to Blackshear, Georgia where he was buried in the Blackshear City Cemetery, and his first military white marble gravestone was placed upon his grave.

PFC Harry W. Grady, Truck Co. C 4th C.A.P.	The origional Marble grave stone.

2nd Lt. John S. Dagilaitis, 4th MORS

John Stanley Dagilaitis was born on March 9, 1891. The location of his birth comes from his United States Passport he applied for on February 28, 1917. On this document he listed that he was born in “Russia Poland” and the city was unknown. This was because he came to America with his parents, Mary Razwrcz (Razevich) and William (Vincent) Dagilaitis, about the time of his first birthday.

The term “Russia Poland” refers to the Russian Partition which was made up of the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was invaded by the Russian Empire during the latter half of the 18th Century. To both Russians and Poles alike, the term “Russian Poland” was not acceptable. To the Russians after the partition, Poland ceased to exist, and their newly acquired territories were considered the long-lost parts of Mother Russia. To the Poles, Poland was simply Polish, never Russian. While the Russians used varying administrative names for their new territories, the most common name used was the “Russian Partition.”

The three Dagilaitis’ Mary, William and their son John, then settled in Duryea, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania shortly after they arrived in America sometime in 1892. Duryea sits along the Lackawanna River about nine or so miles downriver from Scranton, and just above river from where the Lackawanna meets the Susquehanna River. Coal mining was the life blood of the Duryea economy. It is not known how long the Dagilaitis’ stayed in the Duryea area but by the time john’s brother, Lewis Dagilaitis was born about 1900 the family was already living in Cleveland, Ohio.

John’s father was a hardworking man and in 1910 the Dagilaitis family was living at 2316 Lakeside Ave, in Cleveland, Ohio where William was a milkman and operated his own milk route. At the time in 1910, John was 19-years old and was working for his father on the milk route. John was the eldest of four children and the only of the four to be born in the old country the other three, Lewis, Florence and Tillie all being born in Ohio and likely in Cleveland. Evidently the William Dagilaitis home that was located at the corner of East 23rd Street and Lakeside Ave. was large enough for the Dagilaitis family of six and one servant and three boarders to also live in the house. Anna Urpshaitis a 19-year old female was the live-in servant who was born in Lithuania. Andrew Nayok and Ben Misiwitch both were 35-year old men who worked as laborers in a steel factory; and Alex Patrowitch who was 33-years old and worked down on the docks as a laborer. All three men were Lithuanian by birth.

In the years previous to 1917 when America went to war, John Dagilaitis had gone to work for the White Motor Company based in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time the White Motor Company had begun to focus on building trucks and would cease production of its car line after the First World War ended. As such the company was looking for new markets in which they could provide trucks to sell into. This would be a decision that would work out well for the White Company as they soon sold 10 percent of all trucks made in the United States.

One location the White Company had its eyes on was South America, and specifically the country of Peru. The country of Peru had been at war from 1879-1884, which was known as the War of the Pacific. In the years after the war Peru underwent an extraordinary effort of rebuilding their country. The government started to initiate a number of social and economic reforms in order to recover from the damage of the war, and a state of political stability was achieved and was in full swing by 1917.

This rebuilding meant trucks would be needed and the White Motor Company knew how to make trucks, so this seemed like a great fit. As such the White Motor Company needed someone to go down to Peru and look things over. Frederick Herman Stetzel who was an assistant to the White Company Vice-President selected John Dagilaitis to travel to Peru and make notes as to what kind of trucks would be required.

This meant that John Dagilaitis would need a passport and being that he was born in Lithuania he needed to be sure his citizenship was in good order. On February 28, 1917 John Dagilaitis applied for a United States Passport and Fred Stetzel from the White Company wrote a letter to Robert Lansing, the U.S. Secretary of State, that John Dagilaitis was an employee of the White Company and that he was traveling to Peru “in the interest of the White Company inspecting conditions as to the possible use of motor trucks” in that country.

On March 2, 1917, a Mr. R. H. Lord, a clerk from the District Court of the United States, Northern District of Ohio, wrote Stetzel at the White Company informing him that Dagilaitis’ Naturalization papers will be forwarded to Stetzel at the White Motor Company in Cleveland. So, it seems that now that John Dagilaitis had official papers of Naturalization he was granted a U. S. Passport.

On his passport it stated that Dagilaitis would be traveling to Peru and the Republic of Panama, for the express purpose of inspecting conditions as to the probable use of motor trucks. John Dagilaitis was then set to sail south aboard the SS Caddo on March 4, 1917. The Caddo was an American flagged Tanker of about 12,000-tons and was likely ran by the West India Oil Company. She steamed the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and South American waters of the Atlantic and Pacific.

John Dagilaitis was on this journey for the White Company for a little over a month and had made his way back to Cuba by the last week in April. On April 27, 1917, he took passage aboard the SS Tenadores in Havana, Cuba and reached New York on April 30. On the passenger manifest he listed his home address as 2136 Lakeside Ave., in Cleveland, Ohio.

On June 5, 1917, Dagilaitis registered for the Federal Draft in Cleveland, Ohio. And on the draft form he listed his occupation as “Auto Builder” and was working for the White Motor Company. He was single and was a tall man with blue eyes and brown hair.

It was on July 12, 1917, that John Dagilaitis and Emma Revelt were married. Emma was three-years younger than John and was born in Pitston, Pennsylvania. On the marriage record Emma’s address was listed as 2124 Lakeside Ave., which would have been a few doors down from where John was living at 2136 Lakeside Ave.

John continued living in Cleveland and it is assumed they lived at 2136 Lakeside Ave. John was still working his job at the White Company in Cleveland, for the next year until he was called upon by the Army. Being that he had skills centered around heavy trucks because of his work with the White Company, and that the Army was now going to be needing the uses of many trucks, many of which would be White Motor trucks, the Army put his skills to good use. Dagilaitis was selected as an officer in the Army’s Ordnance Department. He was sent to the Raritan Arsenal in New Jersey as an Instructor in the Motor School there. By June 27, 1918, Dagilaitis was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps.

When the 4th Corps Artillery Park was being formed at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina in the summer of 1918 they needed officers for the Mobile Ordnance Repair Shop that was part of the 4th C.A.P. Second Lieutenant Dagilaitis was selected for duty and reported to Lt. Colonel Prince at Camp Wadsworth in August of 1918. Lt. Dagilaitis would sail with the 4th C.A.P. aboard the SS City of Marseilles on September 3, 1918.

2nd Lt. Dagilaitis would serve in combat with the 4th Mobile Ordnance Repair Shop that was part of the 4th C.A.P. and after the war ended he stayed with them on the march to the Rhine River, and during Occupation Duty in Germany.

While on Occupation Duty the 4th Corps A. P. had set up camp in Mayen, Germany. As they had settled into life on occupation duty there was a group of men from the 4th C.A.P. that formed a Vaudeville group, which went by the name of “Prince’s Circus” named after their commanding officer Lt. Colonel Prince. They had employed the band from the 36th Field Artillery that was also in the same general area as the 4th C.A.P. and Colonel Prince gave them permission to begin to travel around to the local towns around the Coblenz, Germany area to bring cheer and good will to the local Germans after the war. Prince’s Circus was under the direction of 2nd Lt. John Dagilaitis.

By the middle of May 1919, the 4th C.A.P. was ordered to return to the States. They ended their Occupation Duty on May 11 and began to return to France. When American units would return back home is was a usual practice to take a few of the officers and keep them in France or Germany to continue in working civil administration duties. Such was the case with 2nd Lt. Dagilaitis. He would remain in Europe for another month until he was ordered home.

Dagilaitis was sent to Brest, France and formed up with other unassigned officers to await ship transportation home. Casual Companies were formed for this reason, and Lt. Dagilaitis was in Brest Casual Company H-16-B. These Casual Companies only existed in order to move groups of men back home. On June 29, 1919 2nd Lt. Dagilaitis went aboard the former German passenger liner Leviathan and sailed for the States. The Leviathan reached Hoboken, New Jersey on July 5, 1919. It was on July 24, 1919, that 2nd Lt. John Dagilaitis was Honorably Discharged from Active Duty.

John Dagilaitis then returned home to his wife Emma in Cleveland. John then went back to work at the White Motor Company after the war. John and Emma had their first child, a daughter named Janet, who was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin about 1921. By late 1921 the Dagilaitis family had moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for at least three-years where John was working at a White Company Dealership in the service department. And then by 1927 had moved again to Kansas City, Missouri. It was there in Kansas City on February 8, 1927 that Emma gave birth to a son they named John S. Dagilaitis, Jr. They lived in Kansas City until at least 1928-29. John was still working for the White Motor Company in sales. This is confirmed from a 1928 city directory for Kansas City, where it listed John as a salesman for the White Motor Company. Sometime during 1929 the family moved again, this time to Detroit, Michigan. On the 1930 Federal Census, John’s listed occupation was “service manager” for an “auto truck” company, which is assumed to still be the White Motor Company. At the time the Dagilaitis family was living in an apartment at 16168 Lawton Street in Detroit.

In 1935 the Dagilaitis family had moved again living in Albany, New York, and in 1940 they had moved yet again and were now living in Baltimore, Maryland. The Dagilaitis home was located on Rock Glen Road in Baltimore and John was working as a service manager for the American Brewing Company, who had a fleet of White trucks.

The American Brewery office was located in the Broadway East area of Baltimore, with the brewery located at 1701 North Gay Street. John Frederick Wiessner, a German immigrant started the American Brewery and was one of the largest breweries in Maryland. At its peak, the brewery employed 61 workers: 16 in brewery work, 17 drivers, 14 in the bottling house, 8 garage men, and 6 office workers. Prohibition forced the brewery to shut down in 1920 and in 1931 the Wiessner family sold the brewery to the American Malt Company, which modernized the interior equipment and operated the brewery until 1973.

At the close of WWII John and Emma’s son John, Jr. followed in his fathers’ footsteps in service to the Country during War time. John, Jr. served in the United States Naval Reserve and served as a Pharmacist Mate Third-Class on the LST-539 (Landing Ship Tank) during the Occupation of Japan and China service in the Far East. And then served aboard the Attack Transport USS Magoffin (APA-199) with the 19th Fleet based out of San Francisco, California.

John and Emma would live the rest of their lives in Baltimore, Maryland. John Stanley Dagilaitis passed away in December of 1962. Emma would pass away in 1976. Sadly, it is not known where John is buried.

This is the 1917 United States Passport photo of John Stanley Dagilaitis, then an employee of the White Motor Company, Cleveland, Ohio.