About Us
American Legion CT Post 31 - Ezra Woods
The Post was named after Ezra Woods, first soldier from New Milford killed in World War I.
He fell at the Battle of Seicheprey, in the La Reine (Boucq) Sector. On April 20th, 1918, in Seicheprey, France, near the St. Mihiel Salient, American soldiers engaged in their first significant infantry battle of World War I. On the front lines, the St. Mihiel-Metz corridor was seen by General Pershing as the entrance to Imperial Germany. He considered it to be a key operating and training area for his growing force of soldiers, and Pershing started sending a number of his divisions to the St. Mihiel Salient for combat exposure, and in situ training. This front-line training involved units from the 26th Division, known at the "Yankee Division". The battle of Seicheprey occurred on the southern side of the St. Mihiel salient. There, three companies of the Yankee Division's 102nd Regiment occupied a trench, known as the Sibille trench.
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Commander | Jim Delancy, |
| Senior Vice Commander | Wayne Maher, |
| Junior Vice Commander | Rocco Barbario |
| Financial Officer | Bill Wagner |
| Adjutant | John Avlone |
Notable Members:
E. Paul Martin, William Harz, Harry A. Worley, Stephen G. Gereg, Donald M. Wright Sr., Edward, Clarence and Frank Shrack, David E. Bierce Jr., Jeffrey B. McBreairty
What Makes our Post Unique
Our post is no more unique that any other in America. We had Veterans from all the great wars that were fought to maintain our Nations' Freedom. That said, our Post was the first American Legion Post in America to create a Past Commanders Club and it was formed on October 22, 1927. There were 16 original members and their names were Henry J. Brant, S. Boyington Ferris, Harold D. Pulver, Burr M. Staub, Lynn N.Deming, J. Leo Murphy, E. Paul Martin, Richard M. Parker, Howard A. Smith, J. Charles Meloy, Paul G. Newton, Howard D. Mock, James H. Hastings, Russell M. Drumn, Harold P. Olson and George I. Wells
Ezra Woods - KIA 4/20/1918 - Company C, 102nd Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry "Yankee" Division
April 20th, 21st, the Germans made a second raid on our lines. This, like the attack at Bois Brule, appears to have been one of many similar local operations undertaken at this time. To accomplish them successfully, the enemy employed usually a specially trained and experienced body of infantry (“Stosstruppen,” or “shock troops”), to attack in conjunction with troops on the ground. It was a force of this description which attached our lines about and in the town of Seicheprey and Remieres Woods, supported by exceptionally severe artillery fire. The 1st Battalion, 102nd infantry, and the 102nd Machine Gun Battalion, on which the full force of the attack fell, suffered very severely, both in killed and wounded and in prisoners, although Company E, 102nd Infantry, and the 3rd Battalion, 101st Infantry, also endured casualties. The strength of the attack was such that it looked for a time like the beginning of an important operation; but at length the enemy force withdrew, while our artillery and machine gun fire caused him very heavy losses, as he himself later acknowledged.
From A Narrative Compiled by Direction of the Commanding General of the 26th "Yankee" Division, by Officers of the General Staff Sections, Division Headquarters, from Field Orders, Operations Reports, and Records in Division Adjutant’s Office, section IV, in La Reine (Boucq) Sector — Bois Brule, Seicheprey, Xivray, Humbert Plantation
