WWI Sentimental First KIA of the 4th Infantry Regiment Dog Tag

[AustinO]

Well I didn’t buy much at the SoS – couldn’t find many WWI US dogtags worth buying (so I had to buy a Canadian Machine Gun Lt’s tag)…Then these popped on ebay last week and I had to have them:

 

The seller listed these separately, and it took me a couple minutes to figure out the relation between the two.

 

 

Lt Harmon O’neal Acuff had pre-war service with the Tennessee Guard, and was commissioned on the outbreak of war a 1^st Lt in Company H, 4^th Infantry – he served as the Company’s executive officer. Prior to 1917 he had been a lawyer in private practice, and after being wounded in the Argonne in 1918 (severely gassed) he served on the legal staff of the 1^st Army - then 3^rd Army during the occupation. He returned in 1919 and resumed private practice after a short stint working in DC for the government.

[AustinO]

Henry Elmer Watkins was a 20 year old factory worker from Michigan, and enlisted in early 1918 at Charleston, West Virginia. The 2.3 million serial number on his dogtag would have been assigned at POE Newport News, VA. He was quickly transferred to the 4^th to bulk up numbers before their trip overseas, landing in France in April 1918. Less than two months later Company H of the 4^th was on the front lines near Chateau Thierry. It was here on June 8^th, 1918 that PFC Watkins was killed while in the trenches, becoming (along with Private Clifton E Oiger also of Co H, killed in the same barrage) the first KIA member of the 4^th Infantry.

 

I can only think that Watkins’ death affected Acuff to the point where he carried the young man’s tag with him through the rest of the war. Both tags came out of Maryland, where Acuff practiced law post war. If anyone has a lead on where to track down a photo of Watkins I’d appreciate it, haven’t had any luck with that so far…

 

A couple newspaper articles regarding Watkins:

 

[USdog]

Wow great couple of tags there. I have one KIA WWI tag that was brought home by one of buddies after he was killed as well.

 

And the SOS. Always have been curious, are there a good amount of US WWI-WWII tags there?

[trenchbuff]

Very nice tags!

[AustinO]

Thanks guys!

 

USdog, there are tags to be found at the SoS. The guy set up across from me had a whole dig box of WWII Pennsylvania related tags. I only saw a couple WWI tags on the loose, but they can generally be found around the show.

[David D]

Very somber set of tags. Thanks for rembering pvt. Watkins

[muddyboots]

WOW!!!!!!