Sgt. Ralph W. Lester

Ralph W. Lester, son of Mr. and Mrs. Waldo Lester, enlisted in government service on June 12, 1917, trained at Sheepshead Bay and later at Spartanburg, South Carolina, and left for France with his company in May 1918. Soon after arriving in France, he was made Corporal and then Sergeant, and on September 25, 1918, he received a battlefield commission to 2nd Lieutenant. Just before the battle in front of Ronssoy, France, while commanding two platoons, a shell burst near him, and he was last seen alive by William Greenip, one of the Westwood boys who was a short distance away. His body was never found, and he was reported missing in action on September 27, 1918. A March 14, 1919, inquiry to the commanding officer of Machine Gun Co., 106th U.S. Infantry, Camp Mills, reported that after careful investigation no definite information had been found on his fate after the attack on the Hindenburgh Line, and although his name did not appear in burial reports, one man on burial detail said he had helped bury a Sergeant of the regiment without being able to provide further information. Although Lester was reported to have received the battlefield commission, it was understood that he had not received his Lieutenant’s insignia, which may have led the 106th U.S. Infantry missing personnel detail to refer to him as Sergeant.

Westwood, New Jersey · United States