Iowa’s World War I casualties to be honored in traveling display

A century ago, the First World War claimed the lives of more than 3,500 Iowans, including one who may have been the youngest American combat soldier in the entire war.     
To mark the anniversary, the State Historical Society of Iowa is honoring the memory of those service men and women with a “World War I Honor Roll,” a display of names and photos. The exhibit will be unveiled at the State Historical Museum of Iowa this spring, before traveling statewide beginning next fall.
“This display will help Iowans and others learn the names and see the faces of these brave heroes and help all of us recognize and honor their incredible sacrifice,” said Susan Kloewer, administrator of the State Historical Society of Iowa.
A total of 3,576 Iowans lost their lives in the Great War and prompted the state’s Department of History and Archives in 1920 to ask their families for biographical information and photographs.
In response, the department received thousands of names and images of those who were killed in action, went missing, or died of disease, wounds or accidents. These records are open to the public at the State Archives and are available through the State Historical Research Center in Des Moines.
Here are just three of those fallen Iowans whose stories can be found in the records:
• Claude Wayne Tack, from the northeast town of Greene, was believed to be the youngest soldier in the entire American Expeditionary Forces. He was born Sept. 23, 1901, in Butler County, enlisted at Charles City when he was just 15, and spent one year serving overseas with the 18th Infantry, 1st Division, Company B. He died of disease June 30, 1918, aboard a hospital ship and laid to rest at Rose Hill Cemetery in Greene.
• John Matthew Glynn of Davenport, was memorialized on the “Tablets of the Missing” at the American Cemetery in Suresnes, France, just northwest of Paris. He was born Aug. 6, 1889, in Davenport and ran off to join the Navy in 1907. He sailed around the world on several ships, re-enlisted in Des Moines at the end of 1917 and was killed Sept. 30, 1918, when a German U-boat sunk the USS Ticonderoga in the North Atlantic.
• Edward H. Monahan was the first soldier from Sioux City to be killed during the war. He was born Aug. 11, 1895, and served in the 168th Infantry, 42nd Division. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for his acts of heroism during combat and was killed in action March 31, 1918, in Baccarat, France. The Sioux City American Legion post was named in his honor and he is buried nearby in Calvary Cemetery.
“We’ve spent the past six months preparing our records and digitizing this information for the display,” State Archivist Anthony Jahn said. “We’ve also received new contributions of family historical records from the public, so it’s been incredibly rewarding to see this display come together in honor of those brave service men and women who lost their lives to World War I.”
The traveling honor roll is part of the State Historical Society’s broader commemoration of the World War I centennial, which includes a State Historical Museum exhibit about how the war shaped Iowans in the trenches and at home, along with an ongoing blog series at www.iowaculture.gov.
This story was provided by the Iowa Culture News Wire, a service of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.