Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado

              Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado
By James K. Jeffrey
The war we all now know as World War I has been called many things. Historically it was called the European War 1914-1918. Literature recalls it as the Great War or The War To End All Wars. The World Book Encyclopedia details the United States reluctance to be involved in this European conflict. We entered the war with a small army of about 150,000 men and by wars end our forces numbered 5 million men and women. Of these men, 2,750,000 had been drafted. There were 116,516 American dead and 234,428 wounded.i
We all have stories of men and women from our families and communities who served in World War I. I grew up in a community that recalled those men and women who served in the military during this war. Our town had an annual Armistice Day parade that snaked through town and ended under an arch in the park. This architectural splendor was based upon L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris and served as a memorial to our local war dead.
Colorado recalled her dead through the pages of the local newspapers. The following list of names is taken from the article, “Hail, Heroes! Hail!” which appeared in the Denver Post, 11 November 1920.ii Recorded are the names of the men and women from Denver who lost their lives in service to their country during the European War, 1914-1918. Colorado sent 42,898 soldiers, sailors and marines, as well as many female nurses. Of these men and women 1,091 were killed or died of wounds during the war.iii Of these, 101 were from Denver.iv
This list of Denver’s war dead may be of interest to researchers of the Great War. This honor roll appeared in commemoration of the local heroes who gave their lives in World War I. The article appeared in an Armistice Day issue of a local newspaper. Researchers may wish to pursue commemorative articles in newspapers from their local areas that may list those young men and women who served and made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The value of this list is that it reveals the names of some soldiers who are not enumerated among those who served from Colorado in the book Roster of Men and Women Who Served in the World War from Colorado, 1917-1918.
Albi, Vincenzo
Allen, Daniel J.
Alstatt, Carl
Alvey, Henry F.
Arndt, Frank J.
Austin, Clyde
Avery, Roy
Axton, Andrew K.
Barrett, Hugh Edward
Bassett, Rexford C.
Bassett, Rice