Private Merle D. Hay

F Company, 16th Infantry

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3 November 1917

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Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2025

1. Private Merle D. Hay Marker

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Excerpt:  Hay was the first Iowa serviceman, and perhaps the first American serviceman to die in combat while assigned to an American unit, in World War I, along with Corporal James Bethel Gresham of Evansville, Indiana and Thomas Enright of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2025

2. Private Merle D. Hay Marker

Looking north from US Highway 30; Merle Hay Memorial Cemetery (West Lawn Cemetery) is in the background. The marker is partially surrounded by a stone enclosure.

When the United States entered the First World War, Hay was young enough to avoid being drafted. With his father's blessing, he voluntarily enlisted on May 9, 1917. He was among eight men from Glidden who enlisted that day. By November 1917, he was assigned to Company F along with Corporal James Bethel Gresham and Private Thomas Enright. They were posted in the trenches of position 'Artois' near the French village of Bathelémont in Lorraine. In the early morning of 3 November 1917, the Imperial German Army attacked. After an hour of fighting, Hay, Corporal Gresham, and Private Enright were the first three casualties of the American Expeditionary Force.

(West Lawn Cemetery, Glidden, Carroll County, Iowa, USA) (By Angela) Excerpt:  As the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Hay had avoided the draft due to his age. On May 3, 1917, at the age of 20, Hay voluntarily enlisted. When he informed his mother that he had quit his job, she didn't approve of the reason and attempted to dissuade him from

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 16, 2025

3. Private Merle D. Hay Memorial and Marker

Looking north from US Highway 30; the Private Merle D. Hay historical marker is located just to the right/east of the Merle D. Hay Memorial. Merle Hay Memorial Cemetery (West Lawn Cemetery) is in the background.

enlistment. His mother insisted her son have his picture made before he departed. It's the only known photograph of Merle Hay.
Eight men from Glidden enlisted that day. Only two, Walter Brown and Henry Dillavou, would return alive. Hundreds gathered at the Glidden train depot to see the men off. The group traveled from Camp Dodge, Iowa, to Fort Logan, Colorado to receive uniforms and equipment. Hay then went to Fort Bliss, Texas, to be trained, where he received an assignment to Company F, 2nd battalion, 16th infantry regiment, 1st Infantry Division. Following their training, they traveled to the east coast, and then by ship to France. On June 26, 1917, the 1st Infantry Division was in St. Nazaire, France.
On November 1, the company was transported to the front, near the French village of Artois. On November 2, at 10 p.m., they took positions in trenches 500 yards from the German lines and settled in for what they assumed would be a quiet night. On November 3, around 2:30 a.m., the Germans began an artillery barrage designed to separate the Americans from reinforcements, while they blasted holes in the barbed wire that separated them

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from the American trenches. 240 German soldiers poured through the openings, engaging the surprised, confused, and inexperienced American soldiers in hand-to-hand combat in the dark. A private reported seeing, by the dim light of flares, Private Merle Hay fighting two Germans with his bayonet. Within 15 minutes, the Germans withdrew. Reinforcements arrived to find twelve soldiers had been taken prisoner, five wounded, and three dead—Merle D. Hay, Corporal James Bethel Gresham, and Private Thomas Enright. They found Hay face down in mud, his throat deeply slashed. The cause of death was a single 9mm gunshot beneath right eye. His watch, a gift from his mother, had stopped at 2:40 a.m.