They fought to end all war

November 10th, 2024

On this Armistice Day, I remember my ancestors who served in the great war.

My grandfather, Martin Joseph Conlon, served in the American Expeditionary Force in France during the First World War. As a Private in the U.S. Army, Company F, 306th Infantry, 77th Division, he was wounded during the Meuse-Argonne offensive and evacuated to an Army hospital. On 12 November 1918, the day after the cessation of hostilities, he wrote this letter to my grandmother, Margaret Elena Fogarty of Whitman, Mass.

My grand-uncle, Patrick Thomas Fogarty, who served in Company I, 61st Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division, also saw difficult action during in France. Although not physically wounded, he was deeply affected and could never look at or eat hamburger again.