Seven Lakes resident Heather Guild sent ina photo ofher grandfather,“gampy“ heading off for service in 1916.
He was in his junior year at Harvard and volunteered believing it was his duty to do so even though the US was neutral until sometime in 1917.
He joined the American Red Cross and was “loaned“ to the French Red Cross to help with its efforts on the Western Front. He was fluent in French and could drive.
During the Battle of Verdunduring the months of February through December 1916 he drove an ambulance, rescuing the injured who could be saved.
Many local chateaux were turned into hospitals. In 1917 he was awarded the Croix de Guerre medal by the French government for courage under machine gun fire.
Upon returning to Boston in mid-1917 he finished his university studies in 1918 and met Heather‘s 18 year old future grandmother who had volunteered at the Boston chapter of the American Red Cross.
Mr. Guild will be honored this November when his name is engraved into our Wall Of Honor.
France created the Croix de Guerre during the First World War as an award for soldiers of all ranks and civilians, as well as members of the Allied forces, who were cited for heroic actions in the face of the enemy.
The design is a bronze Pattée cross (a cross with triangular arms nearly forming a square), surmounted with crossed swords and a center medallion of the French Republic wearing a Liberty cap.