We’ve previously written about the first American officer to be killed in action, First Lieut. William Fitzsimons, MC from Burlington, Kansas (you can read about him by clicking here). Another first was claimed by Pvt. Clyde Grimsley of the 16th Infantry, from Stockton, Kansas, who was one of the first six American Doughboys to be captured by the Germans. You can read more about Grimsley and his comrades by clicking here.

James (“Jim”) Patton BS BA MPA is a retired state official from Shawnee, Kansas and a frequent contributor to several WW1 e-publications, including "Roads to the Great War," "St. Mihiel Tripwire," "Over the Top" and "Medicine in the First World War." He has spent many hours walking the WW1 battlefields, and is also an authority on British regiments and a collector of their badges. An Army Engineer during the Vietnam War, he does work for the US World War 1 Centennial Commission and is affiliated with the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Salonika Campaign Society and the Gallipoli Association.