Alumni Gazette
Jules Fish (Photo: University Libraries/Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation)
When the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Jules Fish knew he must serve.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to do something for Uncle Sam,鈥� the Rochester first-year student told his mother.
At 19, Fish was two years under the draft age. And at six and a half feet in height, he was rejected by several branches of the military for being too tall. But he persisted, and the 23rd Infantry finally accepted him that summer. Fish鈥檚 parents reluctantly signed a consent form, and he set sail for France that September.
鈥淚t will all be over in a few months,鈥� he reassured his worried mother. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to be gone long.鈥� On April 6, 1918鈥攖he first anniversary of the United States鈥� entrance into the war鈥擣ish was killed in a battle near Maizey, France.
鈥淲e all lived in hopes that the inevitable had not occurred,鈥� infantryman Donald McGary wrote in a letter to Fish鈥檚 mother. 鈥淏ut after the attack was over, our hopes were shattered as we witnessed four Red Cross men carrying a real hero, our pal Jules Fish, to his final resting place.鈥�
Fish is buried in St. Mihiel American Cemetery in France. The University awarded his degree posthumously in 1920. Fish was one of 862 University students, alumni, and faculty members who served for the Allies in World War I鈥攁t home and abroad, on the front lines, in hospitals, and on American training bases. Of them, 326 served outside the United States, at sea, on land, or in the air.
Twelve Rochester women are also known to have served. Eleven men gave their lives.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the armistice for 鈥渢he War to End All Wars,鈥� here are some of the members of the University community who answered the call.
Margaret Neary Bakker, Class of 1913
She graduated with a degree in chemistry and served as a bacteriologist at Base Hospital 19, in Vichy, France, during the war, then joined a Red Cross unit for 16 months. Never content to stay in one place, she lived in Hawaii, Austria, China, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, England, and France.
Harold Kimball, Class of 1911
He became the first University community member to die in the war, when he was killed in France on April 9, 1917. At 25, he had joined the Canadian Army in 1916, a year before the United States entered the war.
Eleanor Gleason, Class of 1903
A member of the University鈥檚 third female graduating class, she received a bachelor鈥檚 degree in philosophy. During the war, she was a YMCA canteen worker at a French hospital and set up a library system in the Virgin Islands after it became a US territory.
Vernon Brown, Class of 1920
The Canada native left school after nine months to join Britain鈥檚 Royal Flying Corps and was credited with downing at least two German planes. He went missing in May 1918 and was presumed dead. In fact, he had been shot down, wounded, and placed in a German prisoner of war camp. Although he didn鈥檛 return to the University, the faculty awarded him a bachelor鈥檚 degree in 1920 in deference to his war service.
Nathaniel Kendrick, Class of 1921
The first to enroll at Rochester after active service in France, he left high school during his senior year to join the American Field Service and drove a front-line ambulance for six months. He became a longtime history professor and dean at Bowdoin College in Maine. His grandfather, Asahel Clark Kendrick, was a member of Rochester鈥檚 original 1850 faculty and taught Greek for 45 years. His father, Ryland, taught Latin and Greek at the University from 1881 to 1937.
Prentiss Gilbert, Class of 1906
The son of William Wallace Gilbert served as a captain in the Military Intelligence Division during World War I. He became the University鈥檚 first director of its Extension Division and later was named US representative at the League of Nations and appointed charg茅 d鈥檃ffaires at the US Embassy in Berlin, Germany, by President Roosevelt. He died of a heart attack at the embassy in 1939, at age 55.
Charles Evans, Class of 1918
Evans left school in the spring of 1917 to join the US Navy Reserve. That June, he was on a patrol boat off Boston Harbor when an excursion steamer emerged from heavy fog and smashed into the boat鈥檚 cabin, tearing off Evans鈥檚 left arm. Five comrades gave blood transfusions in a desperate effort to save his life, but he died two days later and received his degree posthumously from the University.
John Lehnen, Class of 1912
The former University football star was working as a law clerk when he entered military service in April 1918, at age 30. He was killed by enemy shellfire five months later in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and is buried in the same American veterans cemetery as Jules Fish.
Lawrence Atkins, Class of 1915
Atkins served as student body president at Rochester and was a member of the baseball and track teams. He joined the 106th Ambulance Company and was sent to France, where he was a victim of the historic influenza pandemic that would eventually kill an estimated 30 million people. He died in a French hospital of bronchial pneumonia on October 30, 1918, just 12 days before the war ended.
Raymond Ball, Class of 1914
The Wellsville, New York, native enlisted in the US Army in 1917 and served two years as a captain of a machine gun battalion in France. He went on to hold several executive posts at the University, including treasurer and chairman of the Board of Trustees before embarking on a long career in Rochester as a banking president.
Carolyn Emerson, Class of 1908
She was University class president her sophomore year and interrupted her career as a French teacher to join a wartime YMCA canteen service in France, providing food, beverages, and personal items to soldiers. Emerson鈥檚 University yearbook quote spoke to her character: 鈥淢any are called, but few get up.鈥�
William Wallace Gilbert, Class of 1861
he nephew of Martin Brewer Anderson, Rochester鈥檚 first president, had a military career that spanned six decades and included the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and World War I, where he came out of retirement at age 77 to serve in a recruiting base in Texas.
Rochester Review
Fall 2018
Vol. 81, No. 1
Section as a PDF