Corporal Merle Wesley O'Rear died on July 12, 1918, near Cote d'Or, France, when he was knocked from the convoy train he was traveling on as it was passing through a tunnel. A telegram from the adjutant general's office at Washington, D. C., announcing Corporal Merle O'Rear's death in France, reached his parents an hour after they learned of it by a letter written a month before by Capt. R. B. McClinton of the University of Washington company of which Corporal O'Rear was a member. Capt. McClinton, expressing the deep esteem in which the dead soldier was held by all his comrades, told of his death on July 12th and burial with military honors on July 13th. Merle served as a corporal with Company A, 161st US Infantry. He arrived in France with his unit on his twenty-first birthday. He was entrusted with important details related to convoying materials, completing a mission into German Territory in Lorraine just the date before his death.
A native of Port Townsend, Merle was the younger of two sons born to Newton O'Rear and Ruby Shaw. Merle was a graduate of Queen Anne High School and a student of the University. His brother Clyde Shaw O’Rear served at the 116th depot ordnance at Camp Lewis. Merle entered the University as a freshman in September 1914. He was studying mechanical engineering and played tennis and basketball while at the UW. Merle left the University school to enlist. Prior to WWI, Merle served with the UW company of the National Guards and accompanied the regiment to Calexico where the unit was involved with border protection during the hunt for Pancho Villa. Originally buried in France, Merle’s final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery. (bit.ly/uw_orear)
A native of Port Townsend, Merle was the younger of two sons born to Newton O'Rear and Ruby Shaw. Merle was a graduate of Queen Anne High School and a student of the University. His brother Clyde Shaw O’Rear served at the 116th depot ordnance at Camp Lewis. Merle entered the University as a freshman in September 1914. He was studying mechanical engineering and played tennis and basketball while at the UW. Merle left the University school to enlist. Prior to WWI, Merle served with the UW company of the National Guards and accompanied the regiment to Calexico where the unit was involved with border protection during the hunt for Pancho Villa. Originally buried in France, Merle’s final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery. (bit.ly/uw_orear)
Corporal Merle Wesley O'Rear died on July 12, 1918, near Cote d'Or, France, when he was knocked from the convoy train he was traveling on as it was passing through a tunnel. A telegram from the adjutant general's office at Washington, D. C., announcing Corporal Merle O'Rear's death in France, reached his parents an hour after they learned of it by a letter written a month before by Capt. R. B. McClinton of the University of Washington company of which Corporal O'Rear was a member. Capt. McClinton, expressing the deep esteem in which the dead soldier was held by all his comrades, told of his death on July 12th and burial with military honors on July 13th. Merle served as a corporal with Company A, 161st US Infantry. He arrived in France with his unit on his twenty-first birthday. He was entrusted with important details related to convoying materials, completing a mission into German Territory in Lorraine just the date before his death.
A native of Port Townsend, Merle was the younger of two sons born to Newton O'Rear and Ruby Shaw. Merle was a graduate of Queen Anne High School and a student of the University. His brother Clyde Shaw O’Rear served at the 116th depot ordnance at Camp Lewis. Merle entered the University as a freshman in September 1914. He was studying mechanical engineering and played tennis and basketball while at the UW. Merle left the University school to enlist. Prior to WWI, Merle served with the UW company of the National Guards and accompanied the regiment to Calexico where the unit was involved with border protection during the hunt for Pancho Villa. Originally buried in France, Merle’s final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery. (bit.ly/uw_orear)
A native of Port Townsend, Merle was the younger of two sons born to Newton O'Rear and Ruby Shaw. Merle was a graduate of Queen Anne High School and a student of the University. His brother Clyde Shaw O’Rear served at the 116th depot ordnance at Camp Lewis. Merle entered the University as a freshman in September 1914. He was studying mechanical engineering and played tennis and basketball while at the UW. Merle left the University school to enlist. Prior to WWI, Merle served with the UW company of the National Guards and accompanied the regiment to Calexico where the unit was involved with border protection during the hunt for Pancho Villa. Originally buried in France, Merle’s final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery. (bit.ly/uw_orear)
Gravesite Details
CPL CO A 161ST INF 41ST DIV
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