Representatives of the Great Cause: Roger C. Keedwell

Roger Charles Keedwell
Private, Company K, 23d Infantry, 2d Division, United States Army
1900-1918

On October 21, 1915, Keedwell enlisted in the Canadian Over-seas Expeditionary Force. He was just 15 and a half. Having falsified the year of his birth in order to enlist, Keedwell served ten months with the Canadian Grenadier Guards before his father secured his discharge due to his extreme youth. Undeterred, Keedwell enlisted in the American Army on April 1, 1917, and served on the Mexican border with Troop C, 17th Cavalry before sailing overseas for France. He served with Company A, 2d Military Police from October 2, 1917, through June 15, 1918, following which he transferred to Company K, 23d Infantry.

At the time of his posting to France, Keedwell sent the Middleboro Gazette a letter from Douglas, Arizona, full of optimism. “There are 300 men going to France out of my regiment and I am one of them and I can assure you that I appreciate leaving this part of the country very much. We leave here Saturday morning for Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where we will be instructed in the French language for three or four weeks and then we will continue our journey to France, which I hope will be a very pleasant journey. We will go there to be military police in Paris. I hope that while in Georgia I will be able to get a furlough to go home to see my folks and friends before leaving for France….As for me I think the cavalry is about the best branch of the service and I regret leaving it, but the trip to France looks good to me. I hope that when we arrive there I will be able to scout up some of the Middleboro fellows because it would certainly seem good to see some of them.”

In mid-December 1918 Keedwell’s father received notice from the War Department that his son was listed as missing in action. On Christmas night the family was informed that Roger had been located in a hospital, having been wounded on Hallowe’en. The information, in fact, was wrong. Mr. Keedwell contacted the American Red Cross for further information, and the family received the following letter on January 20, 1919.

The American Red Cross National Headquarters Washington, D. C. Jan. 14, 1919

My Dear Mrs. Keedwell:

You have only received a notification that Private Roger Charles Keedwell, Company K, 23d Infantry, American E. F., was reported missing in action, as that was the extent of the information first reported. We have just received word, dated October 31, 1918, that he died of wounds. He was cared for in American Red Cross Hospital No. 110, where you may feel sure that everything possible was done to save his life, but he passed away on October 31, 1918. Any personal belongings he may have had at the time of his death will be forwarded to Major John A. Nelson, Effects Quartermaster, Pier 3, Hoboken, N. J., and if you do not hear anything concerning them in a reasonable length of time, we would advise you to write to Major Nelson. Private Keedwell died in service for the glorious cause of justice and liberty, and you will ever have the greatest pride in his memory. His name will be placed among the heroes of America’s Roll of Honor. The Red Cross extends to you heartfelt sympathy and assures you that we are ever ready to render you any service possible.

Sincerely yours, W. R. CASTLE, Director Bureau of Communications

Roger Keedwell died less than two weeks before the Armistice. He was not yet 19.

Representatives of the Great Cause: Fletcher L. Clark, Jr.

Fletcher L. Clark, Jr.
Captain, Company H, 36th Infantry, 12th Division, United States Army
1890-1985

Clark was a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School and was practicing law in the office of George W. Stetson in Middleborough prior to the war. As early as 1913 Clark attended military preparedness training at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and by 1916 he had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve Corps. Recommended for a first lieutenancy on the outbreak of war, Clark attended the First Officers’ Training Camp at Plattsburg. Temporarily stationed at Camp Devens, he sailed for France in fall 1917, serving with Company M, 103rd Infantry, a federalized National Guard unit from Maine. He served with distinction in France and was cited by Major General Edwards for marked gallantry and meritorious service in the capture of Torcy, Belleau Wood, Givry, Bouresches, Rochet Wood, Hill 190 overlooking Château-Thierry, Etrefilly, Bezult, Epieds, Trugny and the Fère-en-Tardenois Road from July 18-25, 1918 in the Second Battle of the Marne. He arrived back in the United States on August 26, 1918, and was stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he trained new recruits. Commissioned a captain on September 12, 1918, he was assigned to Company H, 36th Infantry, 12 Division at Camp Devens. He was discharged January 28, 1919. A frequent writer of letters home, Clark was an astute observer and his writings captured not only the destructiveness of war but the resilience of the human spirit, one letter recording the poignancy of French soldiers growing tulips and daffodils at the front amidst its devastation. Writing at Memorial Day, 1918, Clark recorded: “This has been a strange Memorial day here in France. We had services at a place where part of our boys rest. My company was the escort for the ceremonies, which were at the end of a village. Our men lie just beyond the wall of an old French cemetery. As we stood there I heard the power of the Republic extolled and the bravery of those who had paid the price. They spoke of the call that had brought us here to defend the world from despotism and exhorted us to finish the work. After the ceremonies were over two of the boys asked permission to visit the graves as each had a brother buried there. This was the first time they had a chance to visit the place and they might never have another. The French children have had their special graves to look after. That seems to be their outlet for patriotic activity.” Given that Clark would later fill the role of Middleborough Town Moderator for many years, it was perhaps prophetic that his parents sent to him in France a sample ballot, most likely from the 1918 annual town meeting. Clark regarded the ballot as a symbol of representative democracy. “That specimen ballot meant a lot to me; it is such a contrast to the ways of the nation we are trying to down.”

Representatives of the Great Cause

RECOLLECTING NEMASKET is proud to announce the release of its newest title, Representatives of the Great Cause: Middleborough Servicemen & Their Letters from the First World War by local historian Michael J. Maddigan. A moving compendium of letters written by Middleborough’s First World War servicemen, Representatives of the Great Cause documents the sacrifices made by the community at the time as well as its views and understanding of war. The book is Maddigan’s sixth volume of local history relating to Middleborough and Lakeville.

 “I am still one of the representatives of the great cause.” So wrote Middleborough soldier William F. Harris to local newspaper owner Lorenzo Wood in 1919. Succinctly defining the role of a single community’s World War I servicemen and women, Harris’s letter to Wood was one among hundreds written by Middleborough soldiers that were published in the Middleboro Gazette between 1917 and 1919. Today these poignant and frequently moving letters comprise the community’s largest and most important collection of documents detailing the experience of Middleborough veterans of any generation in their own words. In presenting a selection of these letters, Representatives of the Great Cause permits the voices of these men to be heard once more. While the authors of these letters may no longer present, their subject is universal and their words remain relevant today, providing a deeply moving reflection upon the course and meaning of war by those who experienced it first-hand.

Representatives of the Great Cause will be launched at this year’s Krazy Days festival in downtown Middleborough where it will be available for sale at the Recollecting Nemasket booth on August 2 and 3. The author will be on hand to autograph his new work. Copies of his previous books will be available at this time as well. Books may also be purchased at any time following August 3 by visiting www.recollectingnemasket.blogspot.com.

Michael J. Maddigan, Middleborough is a local historian and author of the popular “Recollecting Nemasket” column in the Middleboro Gazette. His other works include Images of America: Middleborough, South Middleborough: A History, Star Mill: History & Architecture, Elysian Fields: A History of the Rock Cemetery and Lakeville’s King Philip Tavern.

Recollecting Nemasket is a small local history press devoted to publishing and selling histories related to Middleborough and Lakeville.

Memorial Day, Lakeville, 1929

On Memorial Day, 1929, the Town of Lakeville dedicated Dickran Diran Square in honor of the town's sole World War I casualty.  The ceremony featured the unveiling of a memorial boulder featuring a bronze plaque listing the Lakeville residents who had served in the war.  The plaque was pictured on the last page of the program which accompanied the event.

Illustrations:
"Dedication, Dickran Diran Square, Lakeville Honor Roll", Program, May 30, 1929.

Nickerson Avenue

This street has been known by several names. As originally laid out, the street was intended to extend from South Main Street to Pearl Street (Union Street had yet been built at the time), and was named Washburn Street for the family on whose land it was developed. With the construction of Middleborough Town Hall in 1873-74, the street became known as Townhouse Avenue. The name remained until May 30, 1919, when it was renamed as part of Memorial Day observances in honor of Simeon L. Nickerson who was killed in action July 23, 1918, in France. The street originally ran parallel and adjacent to Temple Place, a right of way which extended from South Main Street to what is now Thatcher’s Row in order to provide access to the Central Baptist Church. With the opening of this street, however, Temple Place fell into disuse.

Photo:
Memorial Plaque, Corner of Nickerson Avenue and South Main Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph by Mike Maddigan, June 8, 2009.
This small plaque stands on the northeast corner of Nickerson Avenue and South Main Street and dedicates the street to the memory of Simeon L. Nickerson.  Interestingly, the plaque refers to the way as Nickerson Street rather than Avenue.  Nickerson was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroic self-sacrifice when he and two others crossed an open field in order to ascertain the location of enemy machine guns. Efforts are currently under way to have Nickerson awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism.

Distributing Sugar, 1918

Plymouth County Sugar

Distribution Coupon, December, 1918

Unlike during World War II with its ration books and O. P. A. tokens, Middleborough and Lakeville in World War I were not subjected to compulsory food rationing, though the voluntary rationing of foodstuffs was encouraged by such organizations as the United States Food Administration and more locally by the Plymouth County Food Distributors’ Association.  Wheat, meat and sugar were all important foods which the government sought to conserve in order to supplement the food rations of America’s European allies.  Promotions such as “meatless Mondays” and “wheatless Wednesdays” looked to alter American eating habits and aid the war effort. Regarding sugar, the United States Food Administration produced posters promoting its conservation and the adoption of voluntary restrictions upon its consumption.  “Save that we may share” and “be proud to be a food saver” reminded the Food Administration.  While the nation was successful in reducing its food consumption by 15% and rationing was avoided, the distribution of goods was still strictly regulated as was the case of sugar.  To aid in local sugar distribution, Plymouth County instituted a formalized system with tickets such as the one pictured here being issued to control distribution of sugar.  Regulations upon the distribution of sugar remained in place for a number of months after the Armistice on November 11, 1918.

"Your Sugar Ration", U. S. Food Administration, Poster, 1917-18

"I Think of Middleboro All the Time"

Throughout the duration of their overseas service, Middleborough World War I soldiers frequently recalled boyhood homes, and their hometown was never far from mind. The harsh realities of war prompted many to recall what they had left behind, and comfort and solace was often found in such thoughts amidst the chaos often surrounding these men. The smallest items could provoke such pleasant and homely memories as indicated by the letters below.

[Excerpt]
Chatellon sur Seine, France
May 13, 1919

Dear Mother:

…On the left side here is a slope and it runs along one-fourth mile all covered with red and white lilacs; some pretty sight. I can smell them, shut my eyes, and see home….

MILLARD E. RAYMOND
Prisoner of War Escort
Company 223

Many Middleborough soldiers recalled their childhoods and the events which had made them special. The advent of Christmas, 1918, prompted Fred Sherman to ask his father in a letter, “Do you remember the times we used to go skating on Christmas?” Writing to friend Fred Pratt in Middleborough, John E. Morrison mentioned thoughts of childhood which sustained him in the face of battle: “I have been over the top four times now and came out pretty lucky, thank God for doing so. Every time I went over I thought of the old dog cart and lots of other good things.” Even the weather, as poor as it was, could conjure these same feelings. “Tonight the wind blows like a good old New England blizzard. At first thought it gives one rather a homesick feeling,” wrote Clifton McCrillis from France on September 28, 1918.

Darragh L. Higgins remembered the Nemasket Grange, while James E. Quigley tired of Army food, missed the local ice cream. “Just think,” he wrote to Lorenzo Wood, “if I could only be in Tripp’s Waiting Room and a nice big plate of ice cream sitting in front of me. I wonder how quickly I could make it disappear.” Ironically, such memories provided greater sustenance to Middleborough soldiers, who desired little more than the small pleasures which they had once taken for granted. Warren F. White simply stated that “it will be a happy day for me when I walk up old Elm street again.”

Throughout the war, local servicemen, but particularly those serving overseas, were sustained by thoughts of Middleborough. Many admissions to this effect were made in response to the activities of the Middleboro Service Committee and other local relief agencies whose members sent letters and parcels to local residents serving in the armed forces. In one typical response to a letter from the Middleboro Service Committee, John B. Bartlett wrote, “I may have bettered myself by being a resident of Texas, but Middleboro is a town one cannot help wanting to call home and this last move only makes it stronger.” Arshag Derderian voiced a similar sentiment when he wrote, “I feel glad and proud of my home town and the folks who do not forget the boys who left behind all their loved ones and their personal interests for the ‘Great Cause.’” Arthur Robinson similarly expressed pride in his home town in a thank you letter to the town Service Committee.

[Excerpt]
Newport News, Va.

Dear Sirs:

I must express my appreciation for your kind thoughts of us boys in service and am sure you will find others feel the same. I must admit that it was a proud moment when I received the letter, telling what you planned, for my captain was with me at the time and I passed it to him and he asked if he might have the letter to send to his Commercial Club at home to show them what was being done in the north (he is from Birmingham, Ala.) and wake them up. You see we get moments when we feel pretty proud of our hometown….

Corp. ARTHUR T. ROBINSON,
Attending Surgeon’s Office,
Newport News, Va.

Melvin Southwick likewise wrote of the attention such letters and packages received from his fellow soldiers, and recognized the support he felt from the home front.

[Excerpt]
Somewhere in France,
Jan. 14, 1918

Kind Friends:

…Believe me when I say that I know there is not another town of any size in this country which is doing a bit more for their boys in the service. I say that from remarks that have been made to me by boys from every state in the Union. I have had it asked me more than once if I had to write for these boxes, and when I have said “of course not,” invariably I have had it asked where my home is; and I have never hesitated in the least to say, “Middleboro, Massachusetts”…

Sincerely yours,
MELVIN L. SOUTHWICK,
U. S. N. Air Station,
U. S. N. Operating Base

During his exploits with the British Army, Earl Dempsey remained proud of his hometown as indicated by a letter which he forwarded to the Middleboro Service Committee.

[Excerpt]
France,
March 5, 1918

Dear Sirs:

…The boys in my section don’t know much about the United States, but they are learning fast. The two principal places now are New York city and Middleboro, and I think it won’t be long before I have them educated up to the idea that Middleboro is the principal town in the U. S. A.

Sincerely yours,
E. F. DEMPSEY,
[11th Battalion, C Co., 11 Sect. Tank Corps, British Expeditionary Force]

Once senses the gratitude and pride implicit in the words Sarkis K. Afarian wrote in July, 1918, “I will write always and keep in touch with my home town.”

Regardless of the sentiments or the reasons, Edward Kraus summed up most Middleborough soldiers’ thoughts when he wrote on December 21, 1917, from France: “I think of Middleboro all the time.”

Illustration:

Armistice Day Celebration, Middleborough, MA, photograph, November 11, 1918
When news of the Armistice reached Middleborough later in the day on November 11, an impromptu victory parade was held featuring School Street School children marching and waving American, French and Italian flags.

Doughboys

Following the outbreak of war in Europe in the summer of 1914, in an effort to maintain the strictest neutrality, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation August 4, 1914, barring American citizens from enlisting in the armed forces of the belligerent nations. The order was largely ignored. Men from across the country flocked to join Canadian, British, French, and other forces, including men from Middleborough. Demonstrating, indeed, that it truly was a world war, Middleborough men (many of foreign birth or with foreign-born parents) would early on enlist in the armies of Britain, Canada, France and Italy, flouting America’s declared policy of neutrality and becoming the first local participants in the Great War.

Regardless of which uniform they might don, these men shared one thing in common – an abiding belief in the honor and rightness of their cause. The numerous letters written by Middleborough men in foreign service nearly all indicate the common cause which they shared with their Middleborough friends and neighbors.

James E. Jones, John McNeil and Earl F. Dempsey were among those Middleborough residents who enlisted with the British. Dempsey's story is reflective of that of the others. Enlisting in the British Army in July, 1915, he was transported to England aboard a horse ship. Originally a cavalryman in the 2d King Edward's Horse, he served in the trenches as a bombsman, machine gunner and signal man during the 1915-16 campaigns after the command was dismounted when the futility of employing cavalry on the Western Front was realized. During the summer of 1916, the low point of the British experience in France, Dempsey served on special duties as a dispatch carrier, before rejoining his regiment. He was wounded at the Somme in 1917, following which he was trained as a gunner in the tank service. On September 28, 1918, he was again wounded, in the back and neck, by an exploding shell. The tank in which he was serving caught fire, and Dempsey badly burned. Nonetheless, he survived the war.

Still other Middleborough men joined the Canadian forces. In 1915, fifteen-year-old Roger Keedwell left his home on Frank Street to enlist with the Canadian Army and served some ten months in the Canadian Grenadier Guards before his father was successful in having him discharged due to his age. He would later perish as a member of the American forces in the Argonne.

Kenneth Cosseboom, whose father was a native of New Brunswick, also served with the Canadian Army. He enlisted in the fall of 1914 and shipped to France in March, 1915, with the rank of corporal. He served at the front the majority of the time. In 1916, he was awarded a medal for bravery in action and received an honorable mention several times. In March, 1918, he graduated from officers' training school in France, and was made a lieutenant and transferred to the 26th Battalion Canadian Infantry. He was engaged in training Canadian recruits up until October, 1918. He was wounded in the arm once, and was in the hospital for six months recuperating.

Herbert M. Jones, like Cosseboom, saw action with the Canadian Army in France, as a member of a railway engineer company responsible for constructing and supplying supply rail lines.
John A. P. Lacombe similarly saw service in France as a member of the Canadian Army and was wounded a number of times. He too recognized the common cause shared by Americans and Canadians alike. “I am not in the American army, but in the Canadian, but it is all the same these days and we are all fighting for the same cause.”

Following the American declaration of war upon Germany in April, 1917, Middleborough men would continue to join foreign armed services, as indicated by this letter from Charles Fish to Middleboro Gazette editor Lorenzo Wood.

Montreal, P. Q., Canada,
Oct. 10, 1918.

Dear Editor:

Perhaps you would like to print a letter from one of the Middleboro boys in the service of Canada. I joined the Canadians just one month ago and have been in training steadily here in Montreal for overseas service, soon. My company is the 1st Depot Battalion, Quebec, but I'm attached to the tanks. Most of the fellows here are from the states and they are all Americans like myself. We call ourselves the American reserve Forces of Canada…. We are all soldiers fighting for democracy so there isn't any feeling shown between the Canadians and Americans. In fact the Americans are making the Canadian army….

Sincerely,
CHARLES L. FISH,
1st Depot Battalion, 1st Quebec Regiment,
Guy Street Barracks

Still other Middleborough men enlisted with the French forces. Haroutune Haroutunian, an Armenian native, enlisted with a number of other local Armenians including Sarkis K. Afarian, Madirus Gochgarian, Dicran Baghdelian and Mihran Piranian, on August 3, 1917, in the French Army Legion d'Orient, anxious to serve in the front lines against Germany’s Turkish ally to avenge the Armenian genocide which had been perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey. The Legion, created in November 1916, included some 2,000 Armenian Americans. In 1918, Haroutunian wrote his brother John, "We are ready to attack the Turkish army by orders from Gen. Allenby. We are very happy at the present time because we are seeing the surrender of our enemy from our motherland." Haroutunian gave voice to the local Armenian community’s willingness to sacrifice when he wrote Lorenzo Wood on March 16, 1918, that “for humanity and justice, we will be ready for all happenings…”.

Six Middleborough residents not recognized on its honor roll, but two of whom would ultimately make the supreme sacrifice were the Merluccio brothers who departed Middleborough for their former homes in Italy where they enlisted in the Italian Army.

Despite the fact that Middleborough men would join the forces of foreign nations, and might not always consider themselves firstly as Americans, they clearly recognized the mutual goals which they shared with the native born Middleborough soldiers. The color of the uniform ultimately was irrelevant. Herbert M. Jones, then serving with the Canadians in England, succinctly wrote the President of the Middleborough Red Cross Association, emphasizing the common ideals shared by all.

[Excerpt]
Purfleet Camp, Essex, Eng.
Sept. 28, 1917.

Dear Madam:

…We are all fighting for one common ideal freedom from militarism – an ideal that America has stood for and I hope will continue to stand for in the years to come…. As I go to France, I go as a comrade and brother in arms to my American brothers. I have worked with them and played with them and eaten with them. I’m glad to know that I am to fight in a just cause shoulder to shoulder with your best and bravest. Many of us will not come back. I only hope that we shall all die to some purpose…. Here’s to the cause – God bless America and Americans and may they be worthy of their ancestors.

Sincerely,
HERBERT M. JONES

Illustration:

Prior to shipping overseas, many World War I soldiers had their portraits taken for posterity, either individually, or in groups as did the eight soldiers above who posed for Irving Kimball at his studio in Boston. Though unidentified, the group presumably includes Middleborough men.

Dickran Diran

Eighty years ago, on Memorial Day, May 30, 1929, Dickran Diran Square at Lakeville was dedicated to the memory of the town's sole World War I casualty in a simple, though moving, ceremony. Featured was the joint dedication of Dickran Diran Square and Lakeville's World War I Honor Roll which stands in the square in front of the Lakeville Town House. At the time, the following eulogy to Diran was delivered by Clarence M. Gurney of Simeon Nickerson Post No. 64 of the American Legion:

At this point in today’s activities, we assemble here to honor the memory of, and dedicate this square to Dickran Diran, the only citizen from the Town of Lakeville who was killed in action during the World War.

Notwithstanding the late entry of the United States into the World war, there is scarcely a town in the country that did not sacrifice, at least the life of one citizen, in that great conflict.

Cities and towns are rapidly adopting the idea of dedicating public places to the memory of such citizens, and it is a most commendable idea.

A marker of bronze is erected, years may come and years may go, but as the elements of time fail to destroy, or lessen, the admiration and respect now held for those heroes.

Early in the month of October, 1917, within a stone’s throw of where we now stand, Dickran Diran called to receive his outfit provided by the Soldiers’ Aid of this town. As far as can be learned, this was his last act before leaving this town in answer to his adopted country’s call, and his last words will never be forgotten by those who heard them, I trust, that by you too they will be forever remembered, he said, “Whatever I do, Lakeville will never be ashamed of me.”

“Whatever I do, Lakeville will never be ashamed of me,” let us remember those words of Dickran Diran.

He was a stranger to many in this town, his residence in the town of Lakeville, prior to his service in the army, was less than one year, but that is of little importance, he is the man who said, “Whatever I do, Lakeville will never be ashamed of me.”

What did he do? He gave his life for his country. What more could he do? No, Lakeville will never be ashamed of Dickran Diran, and attests to that fact by placing here this bronze marker, and dedicating this spot to his memory.

I have tried to get an outline of the life of Dickran Diran, and briefly this is what I found.

Dickran Diran was born in Armenia, May 4, 1889, he came to the United States in the year 1902, was educated in the public schools of this country, graduating from Dorchester High School, after which he went to work for Weber Brothers, in Wrentham, was with them a number of years, when he decided to start in business for himself.

He came to Lakeville and located on the farm now owned by William Wright, about one-half mile north of Lakeville station on Bedford street, here he laid his plans for the future, and here, in less than one year, he laid down the ambition of his life, for the service of his country.

The call to the colors came October 4, 1917. With several other residents of this town he went to Camp Devens, Mass., and was located there about one month, his life there I could not follow closely, but I will only give to you the exact words of one who served there with him and who later came in contact with him several times. After we had talked for some few minutes about Dickran Diran, this man said, “No matter what you say, you cannot say anything good enough about Dick.” It would be futile for me to try to improve on such a statement.

His service in Camp Gordan, Georgia and overseas, was hard to follow owing to the fact that he was separated from local men, but his official record on file with the War Department shows that promotion came fast, which indicates ambition, perseverance, the things we would expect from the man who said, “Whatever I do, Lakeville will never be ashamed of me.”

He was wounded in action, August 8, 1918, and killed in action October 16, 1918, his body was returned to the United States and buried in the “Field of Beulah Section” of Forest Hills cemetery, February 5, 1922. Funeral services were conducted in the Stanton avenue church at Dorchester, the Rev. Wilbar Choffee officiating.

I will now read you the official military record of Dickran Diran as furnished by the office of the adjutant general of the army, through the courtesy of Hon. Joseph W. Martin, Jr., representative in Congress, for this Congressional District:

Dickran Diran, Sergeant, Company “G”, 327th Infantry.
Resident of Lakeville, Massachusetts.
Army Serial Number 1907022
Inducted into military service October 4, 1917.
Forwarded to Camp Devens, Mass., assigned as private to the 3rd Additional Company, Depot Brigade.
Transferred November 10, 1917 to Camp Gordan, Georgia.
Appointed Corporal, December 12, 1917.
Left the United States April 25, 1918, for service overseas, with Co. “G” 327th Infantry.
Appointed Sergeant, July 7, 1918.
Wounded in action August 8, 1918.
Killed in action October 16, 1918, on Hill 180, near Cornay, France.

It is with reluctance that I speak of his death. His body, twisted and torn, fell to the blood stained soil of France where it was buried, later to be moved to the United States, and now rests quietly in the shade of Forest Hills – his soul has gone to his God – there is no death, there.

Dickran Diran, my departed comrade, Lakeville will never be ashamed of you.

.Illustrations from top to bottom:

Red, White and Blue Club, photograph, May 30, 1929.
Red, White and Blue Club members Jeannette Bassett, Cynthia Caswell, Helen Hoard and Bertha Stiles flank the Lakeville Honor Roll, behind which flies the town's World War I service flag.

Dickran Diran Square dedication ceremony, photograph, May 30, 1929.
Members of Simeon Nickerson Post No. 64, American Legion stand at attention at the start of the dedications services.

Flag raising, Dickran Diran Square and Lakeville Honor Roll dedication ceremony, photograph, May 30, 1929.
Ceremonies open with a flag raising on the Lakeville Library Lawn by the Girl and Boy Scouts, while Francis Goodridge sounds "Colors".

Red, White and Blue Club, photograph, May 30, 1929.
Members of the Red, White and Blue Club, which had been formed during World War I and which following that time had been responsible for overseeing Memorial Day exercises, sing "The Vacant Chair." The signpost dedicating the square to Diran is draped with an American flag.

Rev. Chellis V. Smith and Red, White and Blue Club, photograph, May 30, 1929.
Following the eulogy to Dickran Diran and the dedication of Dickran Diran Square, the Lakeville Honor Roll was unveiled. The service included a keynote address by Reverend Chellis V. Smith of the First Baptist Church of Hyde Park, Boston. Here, he stands next to the memorial along with Jeanette Bassett, Cynthia Caswell, Helen Hoard and Bertha Stiles.

Mr. and Mrs. Suren Diran, photograph, May 30, 1929.
Diran's brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Suren Diran, in attendance at the dedication ceremony.