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Private
& Corporal York
Lee County Cousins killed in the Great War
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His
cousin Asa C. York was born in nearby Dime
Box. He must have been aware of his cousin's service in the Army when he enlisted
in the Marines (51st Company, 5th Marines) on May 22, 1918. He arrived in France
on August 27th - just a week after cousin Randall had returned to duty from his
first wound. According to his tombstone: He "was among 40 who volunteered to fill
the depleted ranks" immediately after arriving. "His company went over the top
October 2, 3, and 4th. It was on the 4th he received the wound that killed him
on October 21st - 21 days before the war's end. He was 17 years old. |
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Private
Asa York's Tombstone
TE photo, 2000 | | |
Asa's
father, Doctor William Edward York, was known as "The Baby Doctor" since
he delivered over 2,000 Lee Countians to the world. He graduated from New Orleans
Tulane University with a medical degree in 1894. Asa was the first child of five.
Dr. York returned to New York for further study and when he returned he brought
to Giddings the first x-ray machine in that part of Texas. Dr. York died shortly
before the end of WWII.
Within a few hundred feet of the York Cousin's
graves, there are stones for two more of Gidding's WWI soldiers. Corporal
John Claud Carlisle (born 1896) was killed in France on October 14th, 1918.
All of these Lee County men no doubt knew one another, but the dates of their
deaths were so close, that it's likely the last one to die hadn't time to learn
of the death of the first. The 4th grave shows that Edward J. Krueger (born
1894) was killed on the 9th of October, 1918, also in France. In the space of
two short weeks, four Lee County soldiers died - the oldest of which was 27 years
old.
Only Randall York's tombstone says that he was reburied in
Giddings in 1921, but it is
most likely that all four were first buried in France.
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February, 2001
© John Troesser
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