William March - World War I

World War I

On June 25, 1917, March volunteered for the U.S. Marines, a little over a month after the U.S. entered World War I. On January 7, 1918, after completing Marine recruit training on Parris Island, March joined the 133d Company in the Marine barracks at Quantico, Virginia. Along with two other future World War I literary figures, John W. Thomason (Fix Bayonets) and Laurence Stallings (What Price Glory?), March embarked on USS Von Steuben at Philadelphia. March reached France in March 1918, serving as a sergeant in Co F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 4th Brigade of Marines, Second Division of the U.S. Army Expeditionary Force.

March's company took part in every major engagement in which American troops were involved, incurring heavy casualties. As a member of the 5th Marines, March saw his first action on the old Verdun battlefield near Les Eparges and shortly thereafter at Belleau Wood, where he was gassed (ostensibly) and wounded in the head and shoulder. He returned to the front in time for the offensive at Soissons and the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. March was twice promoted and was a sergeant when he was assigned to French troops in the Blanc Mont area, on "statistical duties".

During the assault on Blanc Mont, March "left shelter to rescue wounded, then joined in the fighting, and, although he had been wounded, refused to be evacuated until the Germans had been repulsed." As a result of his actions, March received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and the Army Distinguished Service Cross for valor (the Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest Army decoration, next only to the Medal of Honor). A curious detail emerges from the account of his war experiences that would find its way into his fiction: though it appears he was never gassed, upon his return from the war he told people that he was and that he only had a short time to live; a number of characters in Company K suffer and die after mustard gas attacks.