Pershing had dictated that, with no time to set up logistics and no space on ships going back to America, as well as with a desire to spare survivors from seeing the corpses of their loved ones, no bodies would be sent back to the States. This was in accord with the orders from General John Pershing, commanding American forces. They were quickly buried near where they had fallen. On November 13, 1917, three members of the American Expeditionary Force became the first United States casualties of World War I, killed near Verdun, France. We remember them and honor their sacrifices.

Their dramatic stories cover a wide range: the Cromwell twins, Red Cross nurses who served in France, then committed suicide as they began their journey home Intelligence Officer Louis Abel, who wrote just before he was killed in battle, “ As the war goes on and as I come out of each engagement still alive, I think often of those at home and wonder if I will ever see them again” Lieutenant Kenneth Culbert, who while flying with the First Aero Squadron, photographed enemy trenches under heavy fire, only to be shot down as his plane returned to its base Robert Bayard Cutting, associate organizing secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), who volunteered to serve in France, only to die there of disease aeronaut Private Lloyd Ludwig, who was flying over France, went into a spin, and had a wing on his plane fall off as he plummeted to his death many men killed in the trenches of France in 1918, interred in France, then brought back home to Brooklyn in 1921 and those who served in World War I and went on to live long lives, including Louis Belmer, the last of our surviving veterans, who died in 1980. As of this writing, we have identified 161 men and women and written a biography for each.

For the last year, our volunteers and staff have searched Green-Wood’s grounds, its records, and various online databases, in order to accomplish this goal. In 2017, Green-Wood decided, in anticipation of the 100 th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I, to identify and honor as many as possible of those who had served in that conflict, whether civilian or military, and are interred here. The American Expeditionary Force was organized and sent off to France to join the fight by the time an armistice was declared, in November of 1918, more than 4.7 million Americans had served, 53,000 of whom were killed in action, 63,000 had died of disease, and 205,000 had been wounded. But it was not until April 6, 1917-100 years ago-that the United States Congress declared war against Germany. World War I, also called the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, began in Europe in 1914.

Ww1 participants