While William Lee was living up his twenties, a war broke out in Europe, soon to be called World War. It started with the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. They blamed Serbia for his death. This eventually led to world’s power houses taking sides. America was the last to join bringing Company A part of the 32nd division with it.

Second Lieutenant William Lee of Marshfield, Wisconsin was part of Company A. At first, they traveled to forts in the U.S. to prepare themselves and get supplies. They went to places such as Camp Custer, Michigan, Camp Stanley, Texas, and Camp Merritt, New Jersey. All the while, the boys were itching at a chance at the big guns. William wrote home as often as he could, even after he left for Europe. He was 29 when a U-boat attacked an American civilian boat.

Though America was sending supplies over to help the Allied Forces, we weren’t fighting. The German U-boats triggered mobilization of America’s forces. Company A was formed at Camp Douglas, Wisconsin. They traveled America preparing for war and eventually making it over seas to fight along side France and England. Company A and William were immediately set into harsh conditions.

They were put in trenches. Down there, you weren’t just fighting the enemy; you were fighting Mother Earth. If you weren’t careful your food would mix with your secretions, mud, and your best friend’s dead body. Even worse, your wounds could get infected. However, Lee was lucky to have a quick death.

William Lee was 32 years old when he died on December 24, 1917, in France. Two days after his death, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Lee, received his last letter. It stated that he was fine, healthy, and ready to come home to finish working as a lumberman. His brother, Richard Lee, arrived home the Monday before William’s death though Richard wanted to stay and fight. William died instantly by a bomb. He was lucky not to have to suffer and die from wounds like so many of his commarades.

Though Second Lieutenant William Lee never made it to Germany for the final showdown, he will always be remembered as a soldier who gave his life for his country, for his fellowmen, and for America when she asked him to.

Brooke Whitten
East Junior High School

William Lee
World War One, a war that is almost forgotten in our minds, but was one of the pieces that helped put the puzzle together to find out how to create a nation that is free and is now the best nation in the world. We also need to remember the people that made up and sacrificed themselves in that war. As you can imagine, it would take a lifetime to tell you all about the people that fought in the war, so I am going to focus on one person named Lt. William Lee, and tell you about some of the things about him and some of what he went through in this war.

This was the first major war in the world and there were some new things that were being introduced in this war like some of the following; This was the first time that people were going to be attacked by chemical warfare. If you don't know what that is I will thoroughly explain it to you. It is when the enemy uses poison gasses and puts the gasses in bomb form and drops them in a camp or in the middle of a battalion so you will choke and die or get very sick and die. This was also the first time that people were able to drop bombs from aircraft. This was a hugh threat because now you had to look in the air too, so that you could see if they were going to drop a bomb on your head. This caused most of the threat I would think in this war, because this could never have had happened before and it added the whole surprise air attacks thing.

William Lee passed on December 24th in France. His parents were shocked by his passing on the account that he had just sent them a letter on the 18th of December of that same year, saying that he was in the best of health and that he was just glad the war was over and he was going to be home. He died at the age of 32 years and 7 months. He had moved to Marshfield at the age of four and made Marshfield his home. He was one of the many soldiers who played a huge part in our history and we need to remember and remind ourselves every so often about what these people went through, and not only these people, but all the people who join our armed forces to keep our home land safe.

J. Wolf, Student
Marshfield Middle School