LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -AUGUST10, 2014
TheWar To End All Wars
byLynneBelluscio
OnAugust4,1914, theGerman
Army marched into the Belgian
city of Liege. Days earlier, the
Germanshadaskedpermissionof
theBelgianking toenterBelgium
on its way to France. The king
refused, so theGermans invaded
the neutral country and the “War
ToEndAllWars” had begun.
Itwouldbeanother threeyears,
in April 1917 before the United
Stateswould enter theEuropean
war. President Wilson had tried
to keep the country out of the
war but it became evident that
if the United States wanted to
participate in world affairs, it
would have to come to the aide
of its allies in Europe. Within
monthsof thedeclarationofwar,
LeRoy’syoungmenweresigning
up to enlist.
One of those men was
Stanley Crocker. Five years
ago, Crocker’s grandson, Terry
Krautwurst, began searching for
his grandfather’s war records.
Little did Terry imagine that
his search would lead to an
odyssey that has resulted in a
most remarkable project.
Although Stanley Crocker
survived the war, Terry noted
that the Genesee County honor
rolls of soldiers who died in
the war were not consistent.
Frustrated by the discrepancies,
Terry decided to set the records
straight. This led tofive years of
intense research that tookhim to
the National Military Archives
Personnel Center in St. Louis,
Missouri several times.
Terry has given the Historical
Society his research pertaining
to the twelve LeRoyans who
paid the ultimate sacrifice in the
service of their country during
WorldWar I. Each file contains
copies of the records from the
National Archives as well as
any newspaper clippings that
Terry could find. He includes a
note to the families: “A sincere
attempthasbeenmade topresent,
to whatever extent is possible,
an accurate portrayal of each
person profiled here. ...Piecing
history together from scattered
bitsof informationoften requires
educated guessing, and always
requires obsessive attention to
detail and accuracy. “The list of
twelve LeRoyans includes
some very familiar names.
George Botts
was a
Private inCompanyG, 7th
Infantry, 3rd Division. He
was killed in action near
Fossoy, France on July 15,
1918 at the age of 23. He
is buried in theOise-Aisne
American Cemetery in
Fere-en-Tardenois, France.
LeoFiorito
wasaPrivate
in Company I, 108th
Infantry, 27th Division.
He died of wounds near
Poperinghe, Belgium,
August 25, 1918 at the
age of 25. His body was
returned to LeRoy and he
is buried in St. Francis
Cemetery.
Errol D. Crittenden
was a Pr ivate, HQ
Company,312thEngineers,
87th Division. He died
of pneumonia at Camp
Grange-Neuve, Bordeaux,
France, on October 15,
1918 at the age of 31. In
1920hisbodywas returned
toLeRoyandhewasburied
atMachpelahCemetery
Thomas Illes
was a Private
in Company 6, 74th New York
Infantry. Hewas thefirst soldier
from Genesee County to die in
service after the United States
entered thewaronApril 6, 1917.
Illeswasstruckbya trolleycar in
Buffalo while on training. He is
buried atMachpelahCemetery.
Edward Kane
was a Private
inCompanyB,59th Infantry,4th
Division. (TerryKrautworstnotes
that there are many different
spellings ofKane ie.Kain, Cain,
Caine,etc.whichmade itdifficult
to trace his records. Edward
Kane died of pneumonia in a
hospital atAix-les-Bains, France
onNovember 9, 1918 at the age
of 27. He isburied inSt. Francis
Cemetery.
PercyLuttrell
wasaPrivate in
CompanyA,108th Infantry,27th
Division. Luttrell was wounded
in the legandwas inahospital in
Rouen for “about aweek”when
he succumbed to pneumonia
on November 4, 1918. The war
ended one week later. In 1936,
twenty-fiveareaveterans formed
the Percy A. Luttrell Post # 355
Veterans of Foreign Wars. The
organization was active through
the early 1970s. He is buried in
theSommeAmericanCemetery,
Bony, France.
Patrick Molyneaux
was a
Private in Company A, 59th
Infantry, 4th Division. He was
killed in action near the Bois
de Brieulles, France, September
30, 1918 at the age of 29. There
is some question about exactly
when and where he was killed.
His body remains in Romagne,
France in the Meuse-Argonnne
AmericanCemetery.
George Ripton
was a Private
in Company C, 3rd Provisional
Battalion, Engineers. He was
stationed at Fort Benjamin
Harrison in Indiana. He died on
October 10, 1918 at the peak of
thenationalpandemicofSpanish
influenza. He is buried in St.
FrancisCemetery.
AlvinA. Smith
was a Private
in Company A, 108th Infantry,
27th Division. He was killed
in action near the Hindenburg
Line, east of Ronssoy, France
on September 29, 1918. He was
only 17. He was buried in the
MorganvilleCemeteryonMarch
20, 1921.
JohnWider
was a Sergeant
with the 50th Aero Squadron,
U.S. Signal Corps. He died on
January11, 1918 of pneumonia
at Fort McHenry, in Baltimore
days before he was to leave
for Europe. He is buried in
MachpelahCemetery.
Edgar R Murrell
was a
Private inBatteryD, 307thField
Artillery,78thDivision. Hedied
ofpneumoniaanddiphtheria ina
militaryhospitalnearWinchester,
England, on March 29, 1918 at
the age of 27.
Cecelia J. Cochran
Nurse
Volunteer, U.S. Public Health
Service, died of influenza and
pneumonia in amilitaryhospital
camp in Huntsville, Alabama
October 15, 1918, age 24. She is
buried at St. FrancisCemetery.
If any of these people are
part of your family history, you
may want to stop by to see
the information that Terry has
collected, and perhaps share
some that you have.
Image taken from“InkedMemoriesof 1918”publishedby theJell-O
Company forAmericanLegionPosts in 1924.
