#MIDDLEBURY #VETERANS #WWI
Antonio Calabrese of Middlebury, who served in World War I, was 28 years old when he filled out this draft card in 1917. (Middlebury Historical Society photo)
By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD
As a town of grateful citizens, we can never afford to forget any of our veterans. In addition, we should from time to time strive to read their names and remember their sacrifices for our freedom. Listed on the plaque at Town Hall and the monument at Ledgewood Park are the names of the men and women from Middlebury who served our country in World War I.
The war in Europe began July 28, 1914 and lasted until Nov. 11, 1918. During the early years of the war, ships carrying American citizens and freight became targets of German submarines, including the RMS Lusitania in 1915. The architect of Westover School and what is now the Highfield Country Club, Theodate Pope Riddle, along with her maid, Emily Robinson, and a friend, Professor Edwin W. Friend, were aboard the ship when it went down. Theodate was knocked unconscious, but survived the tragedy. Robinson and Friend perished.
The United States entered the war April 6, 1917, and joined with its allies – Britain, France and Russia – to fight Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. More than 70 million military personnel were involved in that war, including 60 million Europeans. Two million American soldiers took part in the war. Nine million combatants and seven million civilians lost their lives in that great struggle.
The Middlebury Historical Society is busy gathering information about the Middlebury veterans of that war, including photographs, letters, stories and artifacts. If you have information about the following town heroes, we would like to hear from you:
Herman A. Anderson, Stanley Andrews, Walter Beebe, Allan J. Benson, Bernhardt Benson, Edwin H. Benson, Harry J. Benson, Lester J. Benson, Oscar Benson, Burton F. Bird, Vincent Botta, William Budieser, Antonio Calabrese, Raymond Caligan, Mary J. Campbell, Robert Milne Campbell, Rodger W. Cooke, Edward Cronley, Francis Cronley, Cyril Davis, Cyril James Davis, John Delaney, Thomas Nicholas Dowling, Joseph John Feest, Arthur M. Foote, Asahel Rotus Gibson, Arthur C. Hallgren, Gustave E. Hallgren, Charlie E. Jackson, Edmund Janes, Wilfred Jordan, Harvey S. Judd, John Kawickas or Kaweckis, John G. Mills, George Muller, Clarence A. Nichols, Earl R. Nodine, John W. Olson, Alfred Perro, Ellis Frisbie Phelan, Fred Herbert Robertson, Edwin Joseph Robin, Emanuel J. Robin, Morris L. Robinovitz, Melville Skiff, Horatio N. Smith, Lyman E. Smith, Frederick W. Speaker, Raymond Stauffer, Royal J. Steele, George T. Stickles, Raymond F. Tyler, Ralph Vincent, Willis T. Vincent, Frank Wasserback, George Webster, Leon Williams.
This article will be followed by more about our town’s involvement in the “Great War,” the “war to end all wars.”
Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To join or contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or call Bob at 203-206-4717. Your membership would be a valuable addition.
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