The first men killed in action were Corporal James Gresham, Pvt. Thomas Enright and Pvt. Merle Hay all of the 1st Division. They were killed in a trench raid near Bathelemont, November 2, 1917 http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/sector.htm
James Bethel Gresham Birth - Aug. 23, 1893 McLean County, USA Death - Nov. 3, 1917, France American Soldier. Corporal Gresham was one of the first three servicemen -– along with Private Merle David Hay of Glidden, Iowa, and Private Thomas F. Enright of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- to die in combat in World War I. A native of Beech Grove, McLean County, Kentucky, Gresham moved with his family to Evansville, Indiana, when he was eight. After leaving school he worked in a cotton mill and a furniture factory, then enlisted in the Army in 1914. He served in the 1916 Mexican Border action, and, as a member of the Ragular Army, he was one of the first to be sent to France after war was declared in April 1917. Gresham, Hay,and Enright were all serving in Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Divison (“The Big Red One”) in trenches in near the village of Bathelémont les Bauzemont in Lorraine, east of Nancy, in what was supposed to be a quiet sector, to allow the division some seasoning before being sent to more active sectors. On the night of November 2-3, 1917, the Germans, suspecting that the Americans had moved into the area, conducted a trench raid on the 16th’s position to capture prisoners for interrogation. Gresham and Hay were killed in the initial attack, not recognizing the Germans soldiers in the dark, and Enright was killed as he resisted being made captive. The Germans left with every piece of American equipment they could lay their hands on, as well as eleven prisoners. The three were buried where they fell, and the French Government erected a monument to their memory, but it was destroyed by the Germans in 1940. Gresham’s body was returned to the U.S. in July 1921 and re-interred in Evansville. The current monument near Bathelémont was erected after World War II. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6473461 Merle David Hay Birth - 1896 Death - Nov. 3, 1917 American Soldier. Private Hay was one of the first three servicemen (according to conflicting reports, possibly the actual first) to die in combat in World War I, along with Corporal James Bethel Gresham of Evansville, Indiana, and Private Thomas F. Enright of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In civilian life Hay was a clerk in the Glidden farm implement store, and he enlisted in May 1917 not long after war was declared. Hay, Gresham, and Enright were all serving in Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Divison (“The Big Red One”) in trenches in near the village of Bathelémont les Bauzemont in Lorraine, east of Nancy, in what was supposed to be a quiet sector, to allow the division some seasoning before being sent to more active sectors. On the night of November 2-3, 1917, the Germans, suspecting that the Americans had moved into the area, conducted a trench raid on the 16th’s position to capture prisoners for interrogation. Hay and Gresham were killed in the initial attack, not recognizing the Germans soldiers in the dark (one story has it that the gold watch Hay's mother had given him was found stopped at 0240), and Enright was killed as he resisted being taken. The Germans left with every piece of American equipment they could lay their hands on, as well as eleven prisoners. Hay, Enright, and Gresham were buried where they fell, the French Government erecting a monument to their memory on the spot, but it was destroyed by the Germans in 1940. Hay’s body was returned to the U.S. in July 1921 and re-interred in his home town. In 1929 the Iowa legislature funded a special monument for Hay in Glidden, as well as a cenotaph in Des Moines. The current monument near Bathelémont was erected after World War II. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1674&pt=Merle Hay Thomas Francis Enright Birth - May 8, 1887 Bloomfield Allegheny County Pennsylvania, USA Death - Nov. 3, 1917, France United States Army Soldier. He was one of the first three servicemen -– along with Corporal James Bethel Gresham of Evansville, Indiana, and Private Merle D. Hay of Glidden, Iowa -- to die in combat in World War I. Born in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Irish immigrants, Enright was the first child of his generation born in the U.S. He enlisted in the Army in 1909 and saw service in China, the Philippines, and, in Mexico, in both the Verz Cruz and Pancho Villa expeditions. Enright, Gresham, and Hay were all serving in Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Divison (“The Big Red One”) in trenches in near the village of Bathelémont les Bauzemont in Lorraine, east of Nancy, in what was supposed to be a quiet sector, to allow the division some seasoning before being sent to more active sectors. On the night of November 2-3, 1917, the Germans, suspecting that the Americans had moved into the area, conducted a trench raid on the 16th’s position to capture prisoners for interrogation. Hay and Gresham were killed in the initial attack, not recognizing the Germans soldiers in the dark, and Enright was killed as he resisted being taken captive. The Germans left with every piece of American equipment they could lay their hands on, as well as eleven prisoners. The three were originally buried where they fell, and the French Government erected a monument to their memory (it was destroyed by the Germans in 1940). Enright’s body was returned to the U.S. in July 1921, and he was given a week-long memorial by the city and citizens of Pittsburgh, including a lying-in-state in the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. The current monument near Bathelémont was erected after World War II. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10211321&pt=Thomas Enright
