- Thomas Enright
Thomas Francis Enright (1887—1917) was one of the first three American
soldier s killed in action duringWorld War I .Enright was born May 8, 1887 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania , the son of Irish immigrants. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1909.He, along with Corporal James Bethel Gresham of
Evansville, Indiana , and Private Merle David Hay ofGlidden, Iowa , all serving in Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division (“The Big Red One”), were the first Americans to die in combat during the First World War when on November 3, 1917, German troops trench raided their position near the village of Bathelémont les Bauzemont in theLorraine (region) , east ofNancy .Two days later, Enright, Gresham, and Hay were buried near where they had died. An inscription marked their graves: "Here lie the first soldiers of the illustrious Republic of the United States who fell on French soil for justice and liberty."
On July 16, 1921 Enright was reburied in Pittsburgh with military honors. That day began with his casket lying in state at
Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial located in the city's Oakland section. It then was placed on a gun caisson drawn by six horses and taken to St. Paul Cathedral for a memorial Mass celebrated byHugh Charles Boyle , theRoman Catholic Bishop of Pittsburgh.From St. Paul's, a procession continued to St. Mary Cemetery in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood. A wreath from General John J. Pershing was laid upon his grave.
References
*findagrave|10211321 Retrieved on
2008-01-29 * Michael Connors (2007). [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07315/832688-109.stm Finding Private Enright: Ninety years ago this month, the first Americans died in World War I. Thomas Enright of Pittsburgh was one of the three. Here is the story of a forgotten hero.] . Retrieved from the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" November 11, 2007.
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