Synopsis "112th Infantry Roster of 1917 and 1924"
At the beginning of the Great War, the 112th Infantry was created from the old 16th and 8th Infantry Regiments of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Using National Guard troops was the fastest way of getting soldiers to War. Led by Colonel Rickards, the Regiment was activated in October 1917, trained, equipped, and shipped to Europe in May 1918. The 112th fought as part of the 28th Division "Keystone" through the duration of the war. The Illustrated Roster of 1917, created before the 112th was shipped overseas, and the 1924 History of the 28Th Division included a roster of the 112th after it returned from the War in 1919, give an accounting of the soldiers that served in the Great War. The initial formation of the companies of the 112th from Pennsylvania National Guard units was: Headquarters, Supply, and D Company from Oil City; Company A from Corry; Company B from Meadville; Companies C, Machine Gun and Sanitary Detachment from Bradford; Company E from Kane; Company F from Franklin; Company G from Erie; Company H from Ridgeway; Company I from Warren; Company K from Kittanning; Company L from Butler; and Company M from Grove City. The book organizes the soldiers by the company they served under and includes an extensive index of all the soldiers listed in both rosters. It also gives the company(s) in which the soldier served. You could look up the soldier and perhaps find his picture, address, and serial number if it was in the rosters. As stated by an infantry soldier of the 112th, "We are not walking into battle but onto an artillery range." As they proceeded into the battle area with artillery pounding the area from both sides. During the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, after a fierce artillery bombardment. When the German assault collided with the main force of the 28th, the fighting became bitter hand-to-hand combat. The 28th Division repelled the German forces and decisively defeated their enemy. From the large number of causalities and citations for bravery in combat after the battle the reason why General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, after visiting the battlefield and declared that the 28th soldiers were "Men of Iron" and named the 28th Division as his "Iron Division."
