He was the son of Theodore Wood Reath, a lawyer with the Norfolk & Western Railroad Co., and Augusta Meade Roberts. He left the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1917 with four of his classmates, all of them too eager to enlist to wait for commissions as officers. They called themselves the Fightin' Five. Bobby was the only one who didn't come home. Another member of the Fighting Five, Henry L. Geyelin Jr., wrote his mother this account of Bobby's death:
"I have not gotten over the loss of my staunch and devoted friend Bobby Reath, who as you know was killed in that famous attack by the Marines at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Woods. I saw Colonel [Frederic May] Wise, in fact had luncheon with him and Mrs. Wise here Saturday and he told me all the details which I wanted to get so much as before I saw him I knew nothing much about how Bob was killed.
"You and everybody should be proud of the fact that I had such a true and devoted friend who gave up his life for his country and all that's right, in such a courageous and heroic way as Bob did. He was a sergeant, as you know, and doing great work up until the time of his death, having brought in 55 prisoners single-handed, and it is true as Colonel Wise saw it with his own eyes.
"He had brought in the prisoners and when he went out again with the Captain, the Captain was shot in both legs. Bob picked him up and carried him to the dressing station under extremely heavy barrage and saved the Captain's life. Bob went out again and had not been out ten minutes before a large shell exploded right next to him and killed him almost instantly.
"Oh, Muzzie, you have no idea how terribly it makes me feel. I have the greatest sympathy for the Reath family in their great grief and in fact for everybody who knew Bob as I did. Nothing could make me prouder than the fact that I had for one of my best friends a boy who possessed such wonderful qualities and his death should be an example to everybody of what true American courage and patriotism is. Colonel Wise had Bobbie buried with full military honor in a little village by the name of Lucy [Lucy-Le-Bocage] and it certainly was fine of him as Syd T[hayer] said they did not have time to bury half their dead."
Letter from Lt. Col. Wise to Bob's mother, Augusta,
"My dear Mrs. Reath:
Just a few lines in regard to the youngster's death. He was killed in the Bois de Belleau by a shell very near where my command post was, shortly after bringing his captain out who had been wounded in an attack we were making. The day before he went into a quarry and brought out about 60 Germans as prisoners single handed. Such an act speaks for itself. The company lost very heavily and all officers except one were casualties. We did great work, but we paid very dearly for it, but the German offensive was stopped. This scrawl is poor consolation for your great loss, but I know you realize my feelings.
Sincerely yours,
Frederick May Wise
June 21st P.S. We were not taking our dead out, but burying them where they fell, but I couldn't do it with your youngster and had him put in the corner of the cemetery at Lucy-Le-Bocage, Seine et Marne, and a stake at the head of his grave with his tag on it. At that time and now, all of the country is being heavily shelled."
Robert's Rank: enlisted as private, 43d Co., 5th Regt, U. S. M. C, A. E. F.; rose to rank of sergeant.
Death: In battle of Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, June 12, 1918.
Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Wood Reath had three sons, one daughter and a son-in-law overseas in World War I.
The Fighting Five were: Bob Reath, Sidney Thayer, Sidney Gest, Robert Reath, and Henry Laussat Geyelin, Jr. Henry had been separated from his buddies and sent to Paris to work in the Base Censor Office.
Navy Cross Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Thomas R. Reath (MCSN: 83996), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 43d Company, 5th Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, A.E.F. in action on 12 June 1918, in Belleau Woods, France. Sergeant Reath's Company was under a heavy and devastating fire of artillery and machine guns. The Company Commander was endeavoring to send an important message to his Battalion Commander. Several messengers had been sent; none had returned, all having been killed or wounded in the endeavor to pass the intervening open ground. Knowing all this, Sergeant Reath volunteered to try to get the message through. In the performance of his duty he was killed.
"I have not gotten over the loss of my staunch and devoted friend Bobby Reath, who as you know was killed in that famous attack by the Marines at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Woods. I saw Colonel [Frederic May] Wise, in fact had luncheon with him and Mrs. Wise here Saturday and he told me all the details which I wanted to get so much as before I saw him I knew nothing much about how Bob was killed.
"You and everybody should be proud of the fact that I had such a true and devoted friend who gave up his life for his country and all that's right, in such a courageous and heroic way as Bob did. He was a sergeant, as you know, and doing great work up until the time of his death, having brought in 55 prisoners single-handed, and it is true as Colonel Wise saw it with his own eyes.
"He had brought in the prisoners and when he went out again with the Captain, the Captain was shot in both legs. Bob picked him up and carried him to the dressing station under extremely heavy barrage and saved the Captain's life. Bob went out again and had not been out ten minutes before a large shell exploded right next to him and killed him almost instantly.
"Oh, Muzzie, you have no idea how terribly it makes me feel. I have the greatest sympathy for the Reath family in their great grief and in fact for everybody who knew Bob as I did. Nothing could make me prouder than the fact that I had for one of my best friends a boy who possessed such wonderful qualities and his death should be an example to everybody of what true American courage and patriotism is. Colonel Wise had Bobbie buried with full military honor in a little village by the name of Lucy [Lucy-Le-Bocage] and it certainly was fine of him as Syd T[hayer] said they did not have time to bury half their dead."
Letter from Lt. Col. Wise to Bob's mother, Augusta,
"My dear Mrs. Reath:
Just a few lines in regard to the youngster's death. He was killed in the Bois de Belleau by a shell very near where my command post was, shortly after bringing his captain out who had been wounded in an attack we were making. The day before he went into a quarry and brought out about 60 Germans as prisoners single handed. Such an act speaks for itself. The company lost very heavily and all officers except one were casualties. We did great work, but we paid very dearly for it, but the German offensive was stopped. This scrawl is poor consolation for your great loss, but I know you realize my feelings.
Sincerely yours,
Frederick May Wise
June 21st P.S. We were not taking our dead out, but burying them where they fell, but I couldn't do it with your youngster and had him put in the corner of the cemetery at Lucy-Le-Bocage, Seine et Marne, and a stake at the head of his grave with his tag on it. At that time and now, all of the country is being heavily shelled."
Robert's Rank: enlisted as private, 43d Co., 5th Regt, U. S. M. C, A. E. F.; rose to rank of sergeant.
Death: In battle of Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, June 12, 1918.
Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Wood Reath had three sons, one daughter and a son-in-law overseas in World War I.
The Fighting Five were: Bob Reath, Sidney Thayer, Sidney Gest, Robert Reath, and Henry Laussat Geyelin, Jr. Henry had been separated from his buddies and sent to Paris to work in the Base Censor Office.
Navy Cross Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Thomas R. Reath (MCSN: 83996), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 43d Company, 5th Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, A.E.F. in action on 12 June 1918, in Belleau Woods, France. Sergeant Reath's Company was under a heavy and devastating fire of artillery and machine guns. The Company Commander was endeavoring to send an important message to his Battalion Commander. Several messengers had been sent; none had returned, all having been killed or wounded in the endeavor to pass the intervening open ground. Knowing all this, Sergeant Reath volunteered to try to get the message through. In the performance of his duty he was killed.
He was the son of Theodore Wood Reath, a lawyer with the Norfolk & Western Railroad Co., and Augusta Meade Roberts. He left the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1917 with four of his classmates, all of them too eager to enlist to wait for commissions as officers. They called themselves the Fightin' Five. Bobby was the only one who didn't come home. Another member of the Fighting Five, Henry L. Geyelin Jr., wrote his mother this account of Bobby's death:
"I have not gotten over the loss of my staunch and devoted friend Bobby Reath, who as you know was killed in that famous attack by the Marines at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Woods. I saw Colonel [Frederic May] Wise, in fact had luncheon with him and Mrs. Wise here Saturday and he told me all the details which I wanted to get so much as before I saw him I knew nothing much about how Bob was killed.
"You and everybody should be proud of the fact that I had such a true and devoted friend who gave up his life for his country and all that's right, in such a courageous and heroic way as Bob did. He was a sergeant, as you know, and doing great work up until the time of his death, having brought in 55 prisoners single-handed, and it is true as Colonel Wise saw it with his own eyes.
"He had brought in the prisoners and when he went out again with the Captain, the Captain was shot in both legs. Bob picked him up and carried him to the dressing station under extremely heavy barrage and saved the Captain's life. Bob went out again and had not been out ten minutes before a large shell exploded right next to him and killed him almost instantly.
"Oh, Muzzie, you have no idea how terribly it makes me feel. I have the greatest sympathy for the Reath family in their great grief and in fact for everybody who knew Bob as I did. Nothing could make me prouder than the fact that I had for one of my best friends a boy who possessed such wonderful qualities and his death should be an example to everybody of what true American courage and patriotism is. Colonel Wise had Bobbie buried with full military honor in a little village by the name of Lucy [Lucy-Le-Bocage] and it certainly was fine of him as Syd T[hayer] said they did not have time to bury half their dead."
Letter from Lt. Col. Wise to Bob's mother, Augusta,
"My dear Mrs. Reath:
Just a few lines in regard to the youngster's death. He was killed in the Bois de Belleau by a shell very near where my command post was, shortly after bringing his captain out who had been wounded in an attack we were making. The day before he went into a quarry and brought out about 60 Germans as prisoners single handed. Such an act speaks for itself. The company lost very heavily and all officers except one were casualties. We did great work, but we paid very dearly for it, but the German offensive was stopped. This scrawl is poor consolation for your great loss, but I know you realize my feelings.
Sincerely yours,
Frederick May Wise
June 21st P.S. We were not taking our dead out, but burying them where they fell, but I couldn't do it with your youngster and had him put in the corner of the cemetery at Lucy-Le-Bocage, Seine et Marne, and a stake at the head of his grave with his tag on it. At that time and now, all of the country is being heavily shelled."
Robert's Rank: enlisted as private, 43d Co., 5th Regt, U. S. M. C, A. E. F.; rose to rank of sergeant.
Death: In battle of Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, June 12, 1918.
Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Wood Reath had three sons, one daughter and a son-in-law overseas in World War I.
The Fighting Five were: Bob Reath, Sidney Thayer, Sidney Gest, Robert Reath, and Henry Laussat Geyelin, Jr. Henry had been separated from his buddies and sent to Paris to work in the Base Censor Office.
Navy Cross Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Thomas R. Reath (MCSN: 83996), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 43d Company, 5th Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, A.E.F. in action on 12 June 1918, in Belleau Woods, France. Sergeant Reath's Company was under a heavy and devastating fire of artillery and machine guns. The Company Commander was endeavoring to send an important message to his Battalion Commander. Several messengers had been sent; none had returned, all having been killed or wounded in the endeavor to pass the intervening open ground. Knowing all this, Sergeant Reath volunteered to try to get the message through. In the performance of his duty he was killed.
"I have not gotten over the loss of my staunch and devoted friend Bobby Reath, who as you know was killed in that famous attack by the Marines at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Woods. I saw Colonel [Frederic May] Wise, in fact had luncheon with him and Mrs. Wise here Saturday and he told me all the details which I wanted to get so much as before I saw him I knew nothing much about how Bob was killed.
"You and everybody should be proud of the fact that I had such a true and devoted friend who gave up his life for his country and all that's right, in such a courageous and heroic way as Bob did. He was a sergeant, as you know, and doing great work up until the time of his death, having brought in 55 prisoners single-handed, and it is true as Colonel Wise saw it with his own eyes.
"He had brought in the prisoners and when he went out again with the Captain, the Captain was shot in both legs. Bob picked him up and carried him to the dressing station under extremely heavy barrage and saved the Captain's life. Bob went out again and had not been out ten minutes before a large shell exploded right next to him and killed him almost instantly.
"Oh, Muzzie, you have no idea how terribly it makes me feel. I have the greatest sympathy for the Reath family in their great grief and in fact for everybody who knew Bob as I did. Nothing could make me prouder than the fact that I had for one of my best friends a boy who possessed such wonderful qualities and his death should be an example to everybody of what true American courage and patriotism is. Colonel Wise had Bobbie buried with full military honor in a little village by the name of Lucy [Lucy-Le-Bocage] and it certainly was fine of him as Syd T[hayer] said they did not have time to bury half their dead."
Letter from Lt. Col. Wise to Bob's mother, Augusta,
"My dear Mrs. Reath:
Just a few lines in regard to the youngster's death. He was killed in the Bois de Belleau by a shell very near where my command post was, shortly after bringing his captain out who had been wounded in an attack we were making. The day before he went into a quarry and brought out about 60 Germans as prisoners single handed. Such an act speaks for itself. The company lost very heavily and all officers except one were casualties. We did great work, but we paid very dearly for it, but the German offensive was stopped. This scrawl is poor consolation for your great loss, but I know you realize my feelings.
Sincerely yours,
Frederick May Wise
June 21st P.S. We were not taking our dead out, but burying them where they fell, but I couldn't do it with your youngster and had him put in the corner of the cemetery at Lucy-Le-Bocage, Seine et Marne, and a stake at the head of his grave with his tag on it. At that time and now, all of the country is being heavily shelled."
Robert's Rank: enlisted as private, 43d Co., 5th Regt, U. S. M. C, A. E. F.; rose to rank of sergeant.
Death: In battle of Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, June 12, 1918.
Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Wood Reath had three sons, one daughter and a son-in-law overseas in World War I.
The Fighting Five were: Bob Reath, Sidney Thayer, Sidney Gest, Robert Reath, and Henry Laussat Geyelin, Jr. Henry had been separated from his buddies and sent to Paris to work in the Base Censor Office.
Navy Cross Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Thomas R. Reath (MCSN: 83996), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 43d Company, 5th Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, A.E.F. in action on 12 June 1918, in Belleau Woods, France. Sergeant Reath's Company was under a heavy and devastating fire of artillery and machine guns. The Company Commander was endeavoring to send an important message to his Battalion Commander. Several messengers had been sent; none had returned, all having been killed or wounded in the endeavor to pass the intervening open ground. Knowing all this, Sergeant Reath volunteered to try to get the message through. In the performance of his duty he was killed.
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Entered service from Pennsylvania
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