Edgar Gray Swingle
Gray Swingle was born in Hicksville, Ohio, on July 27, 1894, to Albert (Bert) and Mary Edith Gray Swingle. By 1900, the family had moved to Newark, Ohio, where they were found on the census. Gray was eligible for placement on the monument because of his beginnings in Defiance County.
Gray grew up in Pickering County and later attended Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio. He was an excellent student, and upon his graduation, he decided to enlist in 1917.
On May 13, 1917, he reported to Fort Thomas, Kentucky at the age of almost 23. He was made Private First Class on July 6, 1917 and quickly worked his way up through Corporal to Sergeant. Soon Gray was overseas in the Defensive Sector in France in the Somme as part of the American Expeditionary Forces.
As he was leading his patrol in the spring of 1918,they came under mortal fire from the Germans. Gray didn't make it; the day was March 28, 1918.
With his Distinguished Service Cross was this anecdote:
"For extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company B, 6th Engineers, 3rd Division, AEF near Bois-es-Tailoux, March 28, 1918. The patrol came under hostile machine gun fire and Sergeant Swingle was mortally wounded. He gave instructions to the patrol to return to their company commander and ordered them to leave him, as the patrol was under fire and would all probably be wiped out."
He also was awarded the Purple Heart and the World War I Victory Medal. Word did not travel back to the United States until almost two weeks later.
The Hicksville Tribune carried this poignant message:
"Telegrams received here bring news of the death of a former Hicksville boy, Gray Swingle, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Swingle, residents here until a few years ago when the family moved to Zanesville, Ohio. The young soldier, aged 23, was killed in action. This is the first death of a Hicksville born soldier on foreign soil and is the first to bring to our very doors the horrors of this war..."
Sergeant Gray Swingle was buried in the Somme American Cemetery in France, Block D, Row 16, Grave 15.
His mother, Mrs. Mary Swingle, also applied to go to France on the Mothers' Pilgrimage in 1930. It is not known if she did go.
The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio printed a lengthy obituary for Gray on April 12, 1918 on page 3. It supplies more insight into his service, so sections of it are here:
"SERGEANT GRAY SWINGLE OF THIS CITY KILLED IN ACTION ON THE FRENCH BATTLE LINE MAR. 28.
OUR FIRST SACRIFICES...
Just a few hours before the casualty lists from 'over there' were made public Thursday, a telegram was received by the family of Mr. and Mrs. B. S. Swingle of 20 North Street, telling of the death of their son, Sergeant Gray Swingle, 24, who was killed in action in France on March 28.
The telegram from Adjutant General McCain stated: 'Deeply regret to inform you that Sergeant Gray Swingle, Engineers, is officially reported as killed in action March 28.' The message was filed in Washington at 2:24 o'clock Thursday afternoon and was addressed to Mr. Bert Swingle... It was received at the Munson Music Company where Mr. Swingle is a salesman, and as he was out of the city, Mr. E. H. Frame of the company intercepted the telegram as he did not wish Mrs. Swingle to receive it while she was alone at her home.
Her daughter, Miss Mary Swingle, of the Public Library was located in Granville, and with her father, assisted in softening the blow to the mother...
...The Sixth Regiment of Engineers, which was stationed at Washington D.C. A splendid body of troops, they did guard duty at the White House for a time and were known as the 'President's Pets."
Sergt. Swingle left this country about the third of December with the Engineers and from the first, the regiment has been in the thickest of the fray. A few days ago, a rumor was prevalent that he had been captured by the Germans, but the fact was discredited by his family, who continued to receive letters from him. The family knew he was in a precarious location, as he called on Mrs. Andrews of the Smith College Unit, and she wrote the family from Nesle in the Somme country saying he had called. Just on Wednesday this week, Mrs. Swingle received a cheerful letter from him which had been written on March 18.
He was killed while in action when his regiment of engineers joined Canadian and British troops in repulsing the Germans.
He visited his home here in November while stationed at Washington and proved himself as thoroughly a soldier as he had been a student.
His brother, Robert F. Swingle, followed his brother's example and enlisted shortly afterwards and is now a member of Battery B, 61st Coast Artillery Company..."
Kent Miller, local historian from Hicksville, gave an account of Swingle's last day in an article published on October 22, 2018, in the Bryan Times. It reads in part:
"...On March 27, 1918, Swingle was leading a patrol to scout enemy positions near Hamel, right after U.S. forces occupied the front lines in that section of the Somme. They heard a German patrol pass by at about 2 a.m.
'There's something over there and we must know what it is,' Swingle said, according to Miller's account of the day's action. 'You fellows can stay here if you wish, but I'm going to find out.'
He crept out alone and immediately came under fire. His squad fell back to the line and reported him captured. The next morning, a Captain Harris, spotted him on the other side of No-Man's-Land within 50 yards of the German line, trying to crawl back with two broken legs.
Private Frank J. Goldcamp and Wagoner, Carl G. Duncan volunteered to go get him and ran out without weapons while three others provided covering fire.
'Boys, why didn't you bring a stretcher?' Swingle asked, according to Miller's account.
Goldcamp responded, 'We'll get in Sergeant, if you can stand it.'
Swingle gritted his teeth and growled, 'I'll stand it, you boys should never have come out after me.'
They dragged him by his arms for about 15 yards before the Germans opened fire again. They hit all three men. Goldman died on the spot and Duncan fainted with two broken ribs.
They laid still and played possum for about two hours, waiting for stretcher bearers to come out after dark. 'If they don't come for us soon, we'll freeze to death,' Swingle is reported to have said, so Duncan decided to go get one himself. He stumbled about 400 yards before he passed out again. His own brother came out after him with a doctor in tow. The brother carried him back, while the doctor crept forward and found Swingle dead next to Goldcamp.
Duncan spent 10 months in the hospital before he was medically discharged. Swingle and Goldcamp were among the first Americans killed in action. They were buried in Somme and posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest honor for heroism."
Posthumously, Gray appeared in War Bonds advertisements to support the cause.
In Memoriam
Edgar Gray Swingle
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