American War Heroes · 1917–1918
The American Expeditionary Forces in France. This roll includes York, Henry Johnson, Rickenbacker, Frank Luke Jr., and Charles W. Whittlesey of the Lost Battalion. Doughboys, nurses, and the missing of the Meuse-Argonne will continue from the public record.
American War Heroes is a publisher-curated historical register. Notice Nearby writes these entries from documented public records. Checkout does not add a name to a war roll, and we do not issue Heroes badges, MIA labels, or a “verified veteran” mark.
A paid Community memorial may mention military service in the family’s own words. That mention stays on the obituary. It is not verification, and it does not enroll anyone on these lists. Claiming service that was not given is stolen valor. It is disrespectful to those who served.
5 on the roll
1887–1964 · Sergeant
Alvin Cullum York was a Fentress County farmer and a man of a church that did not love killing when the draft found him. He went anyway. On October 8, 1918, in the Argonne, his patrol was cut up. York, then a corporal, w…
1892–1929 · Sergeant
Henry Johnson — William Henry Johnson on some papers — was born in Winston-Salem and worked as a redcap in Albany when he enlisted in the 15th New York, later the 369th Infantry. The regiment served under French command …
1890–1973 · Captain
Eddie Rickenbacker came to the war from the race track, not from a military academy. He drove cars for a living in Columbus and then learned to fly. By the end of 1918 he commanded the 94th Aero Squadron with twenty-six …
1897–1918 · Second Lieutenant
Frank Luke Jr. flew a short war and a hard specialty. Observation balloons were defended, valuable, and hated. Luke went after them with the 27th Aero Squadron in September 1918, in the weeks after St. Mihiel and into th…
1884–1921 · Lieutenant Colonel
Charles White Whittlesey was a Wisconsin-born New York lawyer who went to France with the 77th Division and, in early October 1918 in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, found his mixed command of the 308th Infantry surrounded …