Read the 1917 story about Evansville man who was the first American to die in World War I
In the early-morning hours of Nov. 3, 1917, German soldiers stormed into James Bethel Gresham’s trench in Artois, France.
The 24-year-old Evansville man and Army corporal fought back, grappling with the soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, but he was ultimately killed alongside Pvts. Merle Hay and Thomas Enright.
Thousands would go on to die in the brutal, gas-filled trenches of World War I. And Gresham was likely the first American to do so.
Here’s a reprint of the original story that announced his death in the Nov. 5, 1917 edition of the Evansville Journal-News. Parts are unreadable in the news print and have been noted below, while context – noted in parentheses – has been added to some of the references.
Otherwise, it appears just as it did in 1917.
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EVANSVILLE SOLDIER KILLED BY GERMANS
Local home feels first pain of casualty list; grief prostrates mother
Mrs. Alice Dodd of Evansville one of first to lose son in trenches – weak from shock, she declares herself proud to give her boy to his country
“I’m proud he died for his country, but it is so hard – this awful world – his father fought through four years in the Civil War and was a brave man – to think James had be the first …” Mrs. Alice Dodd, mother of James Gresham, sobbed Monday morning when informed that her son was one of the first three killed in action in France.
Mrs. Dodd was surrounded by her two daughters when the news was brought to her at her home, 907 Lemcke Avenue, and she broke down completely. Her second husband, William Dodd, whom she married after her first husband’s death, was at a neighborhood store when the news reached him.
Was High Spirited
“He was a high-spirited boy and wanted to fight for his country,” he said.
James Bethel Gresham, one of the first three men to lay down his life in France in the “war for democracy,” was a scion of a fiery Kentuckian who fought through four years of the Civil War in (General Robert) Lee’s army. He enlisted in the regular army April 26, 1914, because every-day life was too commonplace.
He enlisted at the Evansville army recruiting station and was mustered in at Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis.
Went on Villa Chase
When President Wilson sent (General John) Pershing after (Poncho) Villa, Gresham was selected as one of the men to accompany the expedition. Gresham liked the experiences in Mexico, but like the rest of the soldiers who made up that expedition, he was disappointed at not getting a taste of real war.
His time of enlistment expired last April. His discharge papers he had forwarded along with his (illegible) …
... a wall of Mrs. Dodd’s bedroom in the modest little home on Lemcke Avenue. But James did not come home. He reenlisted and was sent to France with “Black Jack” Pershing’s expeditionary forces last June.
He was 24 years old last April. His has two brothers, John and Winn Dickson, and two sisters, Mrs. Nola Lowey and Mrs. Beulah Green, both of whom live with Mr. and Mrs. Dodd.
Mrs. Dodd was at home preparing dinner when the word of her son’s death was brought to her. Her husband was at a neighboring store when the news was taken to him. He hurried home to comfort Mrs. Dodd.
Gresham had sent two letters home since he arrived in France. His mother asked him to write and tell her all about the country “over there.” He wrote that the country was like Mexico.
Sent birthday gift
One of the letters, dated Sept. 29, arrived last Friday. On Saturday a package came, containing silk handkerchiefs that he had mentioned in the letter of the 29th.
One of the handkerchiefs, a dainty, fluffy yellow piece of silk which “Jimmy” had purchased in Paris, he was in that city on his way to the front, was marked “Mother.” In a corner under some handworked flowers, “Happy Birthday” was worked in the handkerchief.
Mrs. Dodd will be 54 years old next Saturday and the handkerchief was the usual token of remembrance that “Jimmy” always sends to his mother.
“He has never forgotten to send me something on my birthday,” Mrs. Dodd sobbed as she fondled the handkerchief.
In the same letter in which he referred to the souvenir handkerchiefs, Gresham also mentioned his sweetheart, who lives in Arkansas.
He sent a handkerchief for her and asked his mother to send it to her. Gresham never saw the girl whom he calls his sweetheart. It is a war-time romance.
He had her picture with him in France and she had his picture. The two have written to each other ever since Gresham was in Mexico. It has been a correspondence such as thousands of soldiers are carrying on today with girls they have never seen.
Mrs. Dodd was affected most by the thought that her son was killed so far away from home.
“He was so close to me when he left,” she sobbed, “and I hope they’ll bring him back. I wanted to go over with him.”
Gresham passed through (illegible) …
… bade his mother goodbye shortly before being ordered to France.
Mrs. Dodd wondered if they would bring him back to be buried at home and her daughters and friends comforted her with the thought that the government would do this.
Sunday night, Lawrence Hensley, a member of the regular army, was home to visit his mother, Mrs. A.R. Bullington, Ohio Street, and he was talking about Gresham.
Hensley had been a member of the same regiment that Gresham was in while in Mexico. He knew Gresham well and was asking his stepfather if he knew where “Jimmy” was.
Gresham enlisted along with Charles Bowen, who is thought to be in France.
While stationed in Mexico, Gresham tried to get into the sharp shooters’ section, but failed to make a qualifying record.
It was a turn of fortune that young Gresham fought to save the nation against which his father had taken up arms during the Civil War. But the dominant strain which caused his father to take up arms against the nation back in 1862 was the cause of James Bethel Gresham taking up arms in his country’s defense.
He spurned the thought of leaving the army when he was given his honorable discharge last spring. He welcomed the opportunity to go “over there” to help the armies of democracy push back the Germans from France.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Read the 1917 story announcing America's first World War I death
