= The year was 1917, and the United States of America was entering World War 1. A Marshfield Wisconsin born boy by the name of Ray Winch was among the thousands of U.S. troops to be sent across the Atlantic to the trenches of Europe. Ray was a true American War Hero, which is why I am dedicating this essay in his honor.

1914 saw the beginning of World War One in Europe. On July 28th Austria declared war on Serbia which caused a domino effect bringing in about a dozen other countries. WWI A.K.A The War to End All Wars was the first, and last, example of trench warfare. Because of this almost unmoving style of combat, the war was nothing more than a bloody four year stalemate. The war ushered in the use of tanks, planes, and long range artillery for large-scale military combat.

Ray Winch was born in 1894 in Marshfield, Wisconsin. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Winch raised him, his two brothers, and four sisters on East 9th Street. Ray graduated high school and got a job in his hometown as a mechanic at Marshfield Hardware & Auto Garage. Before his service in France he served on the Mexican border from 1916 to 1917. When Ray was finally deployed to France towards the end of 1917, he already had the experience needed to serve his country overseas.

Mr. Winch managed to rise to the rank of Corporal in the Army before being sent to France to serve his tour of duty. Ray was a member of Company A, 127th Infantry Division. Stationed in France, Ray was entrenched with most of the other American soldiers on the front line, with nothing but No Man’s Land between him and the Prussians. On August 27th, 1918, Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Winch received a telegraph from the United States Army. The telegram informed them that their son, Ray, was killed in action.

Some might say that Corporal Ray Winch was an American WWI hero. But that’s only looking from one narrow-minded perspective. Ray was more than that; he was a loving son and brother, a hero to all the people of Marshfield, and above all he was an All American War Hero. When people remember Ray they won’t think of how or when he died, but who he was as a person. Everyone in town believed Ray had a bright future ahead of him. He was “honest, up-right, ambitious, and a most congenial companion.”

Most of the people that knew Ray aren’t around anymore to tell their own story of him, but even now, almost a century after Ray’s time, he is still an American WWI Hero. He was then, he is now, and he forever will be.

By Clay Schmidt
East Junior High School