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FROM THE "PEOPLE WE WISH WE HAD KNOWN" SERIES
IN MEMORY
Dedicated to the memory of George Dwight Montgomery, United States Army. Rest in peace, an American Hero
Included among our honored area dead is
Lieutenant George Dwight Montgomery
American soldier from the DuBois area killed in action in WW I
The DuBois American Legion Post # 17 is named in his honor
God Bless All Our Veterans, Living and Dead
Lieutenant Geo. Dwight Montgomery played both football and basketball for DuBois High School. He was one of seven children of railroad engineer Charles H. Montgomery and Susan R. Montgomery. The 1910 Census showed the family living in the Third Ward of DuBois. The family had moved to DuBois from Sligo (Clarion County) where they lived in 1900.
A member of Company H, 112 th Infantry, the 28th Division; he was reportedly killed in action at Fismette, France on August 27, 1918. Company G and H lost a combined total of 200 men out of 230 when cut off at Fismette France and engaged in an overwhelming attack by a thousand German soldiers.
Lt. Montgomery's body was brought home and buried next to his parents and a younger brother in the family burial plot at a small village cemetery at Wattersonville, Armstrong County. At the time of his death he was just 23 years old. The American Legion Post # 17 in DuBois is named in his honor as the first DuBois area officer killed in WW I.
The 28th Division were volunteers from Pennsylvania and had the nickname "The Keystone Division." Misinterpreting the keystone on their helmets the Germans referred to them as the "Bloddy Bucket" division. During World War I the 28th Division had a total of 14,139 casualties (KIA-2,165 ; WIA-11,974). WW I General of the Armies, John J. "Blackjack" Pershing said of the members of that Division, "These are not soldiers, these are iron men." Because of that comment they also became known as "The Iron Division." Route 322 which crosses Pennsylvania is named "The 28th Division Highway" in their honor.
READ ABOUT THE BATTLE THAT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF LT. GEORGE DWIGHT MONTGOMERY ( SELECT )
The following is an excerpt from: "Tragedy at Fismette, France, 1918" by Edward G. Lengel
That night ( August 26, 1918) companies G and H of the 112th—236 men in all—took up positions in Fismette. At dawn the following morning, August 27, German artillery laid down a barrage around the village, destroying the bridge over the Vesle and sealing off the beleaguered Americans. Twenty minutes later 1,000 German stormtroopers with machine guns, hand grenades and the dreaded flamethrowers descended on Fismette. The Pennsylvanians held on doggedly for several hours, inflicting severe casualties on the attackers. The Germans nevertheless broke through to the river at several points, separating the Americans into isolated pockets they then methodically destroyed. Just over 30 doughboys managed to swim across the Vesle to safety. Of the remainder, an estimated 75 were killed and 127 taken prisoner. Fismette was back in German hands.
Read the full text of "Tragedy at Fismette" ( Select )
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived." ~ General George Patton
" Dying for freedom isn't the worst thing that could happen. Being forgotten is." Tom Hanks
FROM THE "PEOPLE WE WISH WE HAD KNOWN" SERIES
IN MEMORY
Dedicated to the memory of George Dwight Montgomery, United States Army. Rest in peace, an American Hero
Included among our honored area dead is
Lieutenant George Dwight Montgomery
American soldier from the DuBois area killed in action in WW I
The DuBois American Legion Post # 17 is named in his honor
God Bless All Our Veterans, Living and Dead
Lieutenant Geo. Dwight Montgomery played both football and basketball for DuBois High School. He was one of seven children of railroad engineer Charles H. Montgomery and Susan R. Montgomery. The 1910 Census showed the family living in the Third Ward of DuBois. The family had moved to DuBois from Sligo (Clarion County) where they lived in 1900.
A member of Company H, 112 th Infantry, the 28th Division; he was reportedly killed in action at Fismette, France on August 27, 1918. Company G and H lost a combined total of 200 men out of 230 when cut off at Fismette France and engaged in an overwhelming attack by a thousand German soldiers.
Lt. Montgomery's body was brought home and buried next to his parents and a younger brother in the family burial plot at a small village cemetery at Wattersonville, Armstrong County. At the time of his death he was just 23 years old. The American Legion Post # 17 in DuBois is named in his honor as the first DuBois area officer killed in WW I.
The 28th Division were volunteers from Pennsylvania and had the nickname "The Keystone Division." Misinterpreting the keystone on their helmets the Germans referred to them as the "Bloddy Bucket" division. During World War I the 28th Division had a total of 14,139 casualties (KIA-2,165 ; WIA-11,974). WW I General of the Armies, John J. "Blackjack" Pershing said of the members of that Division, "These are not soldiers, these are iron men." Because of that comment they also became known as "The Iron Division." Route 322 which crosses Pennsylvania is named "The 28th Division Highway" in their honor.
READ ABOUT THE BATTLE THAT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF LT. GEORGE DWIGHT MONTGOMERY ( SELECT )
The following is an excerpt from: "Tragedy at Fismette, France, 1918" by Edward G. Lengel
That night ( August 26, 1918) companies G and H of the 112th—236 men in all—took up positions in Fismette. At dawn the following morning, August 27, German artillery laid down a barrage around the village, destroying the bridge over the Vesle and sealing off the beleaguered Americans. Twenty minutes later 1,000 German stormtroopers with machine guns, hand grenades and the dreaded flamethrowers descended on Fismette. The Pennsylvanians held on doggedly for several hours, inflicting severe casualties on the attackers. The Germans nevertheless broke through to the river at several points, separating the Americans into isolated pockets they then methodically destroyed. Just over 30 doughboys managed to swim across the Vesle to safety. Of the remainder, an estimated 75 were killed and 127 taken prisoner. Fismette was back in German hands.
Read the full text of "Tragedy at Fismette" ( Select )
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived." ~ General George Patton
" Dying for freedom isn't the worst thing that could happen. Being forgotten is." Tom Hanks
