Jim Nolan's Blog

Jake Sicherman Debates for J.Y.M.A., June 1916

From a packet of newspaper clippings and photos sent to me by Barbara Sicherman. I've really enjoyed posting the four audio essays with Barbara this week on subjects from Well Read Lives: How Books Inspired a Generation of American Women. Barbara's dad Jake was my grandfather Paul's best friend, in high school and throughout life. Her mother, Esther, was a great friend of my grandmother, Isabelle. Here is an article about Jake debating a J.Y.M.A. team from Rochester at Temple Beth Zion. Thanks for this week, Barbara!

French Stamp, 1968

A beautiful stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Armistice. Two of my great uncles, John and Robert, died in WWI. John is buried in France. Robert was lost at sea. This stamp is part of a small collection my Grandfather Bengt gave my mother. 

Veterans Day, Part III

From the Wilkes-Barre Record, 1918

Newspaper article announcing the death of Lt. John V. Curry, Company E, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division. Son of Sara Curry. He was by all accounts a remarkable young man, just 23, part of the cream of the officer corps that was chosen to represent the U.S. in its first engagement of WWI. He was struck by a sniper's bullet on May 28 (the newspaper and his gravestone are incorrect) at the Battle of Cantigny. 

Veterans Day, Part II

Two years ago my son Edward and I visited Sara Curry's grave in Plains, PA and put a metal Gold Star Mother gravemarker next to the headstone. Sara lost her son Lt. John V. Curry in WWI (and her husband Gilbert to lighting in 1899) and is an incredible example of courage and strength in the face of adversity. I know the members of the Plains American Legion, including my friends Bob and Bobby Corcoran, will once again honor our vets and Sarah as they do every year. 

Veterans Day, Part I

 
My great uncle John's grave marker, in the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France. He died in the first major American engagement in WWI, the Battle of Cantigny.

Thanks to all our veterans on Veterans Day, Sunday, November 11.

  

Five Lieutenants: New Book About 28th Infantry Regiment

James Carl Nelson, who has been kind enough to help me learn about Lt. John Curry, my great uncle who died in WWI in the Battle of Cantigny in France, has a new book coming out this month. It's about five lieutenants in the 28th Infantry, a.k.a. the Black Lions, and what they encountered "over there." I pre-ordered it on Amazon and can't wait to read it. 

Lt. Curry and Lt. Duddy Resolution in Memoriam

In May my friends Bob Corcoran and his son Bobby were kind enough to arrange a loan of the portraits of Lt. Curry and Lt. Duddy to the Plains American Legion Post 558, from the school district where they were in storage. When the paintings are restored, Bob has kindly invited me to come to the ceremony and stay with him and his lovely wife Rose in the house his parents bought from my grandmother, Sara Curry. Sara would surely be grateful that these heroes are still remembered by their community and country. Thank you Corcoran family, Board of Education of the Wilkes-Barre School District, and American Legion Post 558.

Latin Crosses, Stars of David Mark WWI Heroes

 
Somme American Cemetery, outside Bony, France. Photo by Jim Nolan. Click to enlarge.

My great uncle Lt. John Curry lies buried here along with 1,843 other fallen soldiers. He died on May 28, 1918 during the Battle of Cantigny, America's first big engagement in WWI. My great-grandmother, Sara, visited his grave here twice, the second time as part of a Gold Star Mother's Pilgrimage. You can hear John's story below.

Sara Curry, Gold Star Mother

An ID photo from my great-grandmother's trip to France to visit her son's grave at the Somme American Cemetery. Sara, and the other mothers and widows of fallen WWI soldiers, were treated as heroes by the French. You can listen to my account of her trip below, based on her son's military burial file. 

Listen to Sara Curry Is Grateful

Remembering Robert and John

My mother's uncle, Robert Koenig, and my father's uncle, John Curry. Both were killed in action in WW1. Robert served in the German Navy. John, in the U.S. First Army, 28th Infantry. World War 1 was carnage, and pointless. Lt. Curry's story is below.

 Listen to May 28, 1918