{"id":188680,"date":"2024-05-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=188680"},"modified":"2024-05-29T15:48:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T15:48:54","slug":"connecticut-world-war-i-soldier-awarded-purple-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=188680","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut World War I Soldier Awarded Purple Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Arthur Fredericks, the Connecticut National Guard’s senior enlisted advisor, presents Rick Maynard a Connecticut World War I Campaign Medal in honor of his great-uncle’s service with the 102nd Infantry Regiment in World War I. Sgt. Paul Maynard served with Company M in multiple battles across France and ultimately perished on the last day of the War.
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GUILFORD, Conn. \u2013 A Connecticut National Guard Soldier assigned to Company M, 102nd Infantry Regiment, received the Purple Heart May 24, more than 100 years after he died during World War I.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Maynard of Torrington was killed in action on the last day of the war while serving in France.<\/p>\n

Sen. Richard Blumenthal presented the Purple Heart to Rick Maynard, Paul\u2019s grandnephew, during a ceremony at the Guilford town green.<\/p>\n

Several current members of the 102nd Infantry Regiment, one of the oldest active units in the U.S. military, also attended. The regiment\u2019s heritage dates back to the colonial militia.<\/p>\n

Maynard said the ceremony brought his family closure. Their journey to learn more about his great-uncle\u2019s life and military service began in 2010 when they discovered a package of letters he\u2019d sent home from the war while cleaning their father\u2019s basement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI opened it up and saw about three dozen letters written from Paul to my grandfather from the battlefields of France,\u201d Maynard said. \u201cI started reading these letters and said, \u2018Oh my goodness! This is amazing!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Since their discovery, Sgt. Maynard\u2019s family has worked with historians to piece together his story. And, with the help of Christine Pittsley, the special projects curator at the Connecticut State Library, they pinpointed the exact coordinates of where he died on the battlefield.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Paul was very proud to wear the American uniform and even prouder to serve his country,\u201d said Lisa Ann Maynard in a 2015 documentary about Sgt. Maynard presented by the American Battle Monuments Commission. \u201cEverybody put a lot on the line, and I\u2019m really hoping that Paul will be the catalyst for people to say, \u2018Let\u2019s look more into our history in this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, Maynard talked about how his great-uncle was a patriot and one of the first people in his hometown to enlist to serve in the war. He described him as selfless, always sending home his military pay to help his family with their bills. He shared excerpts from the letters, including one from his last letter, dated Nov. 4, 1918, to his brother, just one week before a German artillery strike killed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Glen, I thought a good many times I never would be able to write home again. We have had a hard time on this front and we\u2019ll be glad when it\u2019s over with. Write often and don\u2019t forget your old chum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maynard shared this excerpt because he felt the final line encapsulated the true meaning of Memorial Day, which Americans were preparing to celebrate a few days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize that the Purple Heart represents that you spilled blood for the United States, and you were willing to give your life for it,\u201d said John Alberghini, a veteran and Purple Heart recipient, in an interview with WTNH.<\/p>\n

The 102nd Infantry Regiment was the first American unit to see heavy combat in World War I during the battle of Seichprey. They also participated in the battles of Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne and the Battle of Verdun. Maynard and Company M fought in some of the war\u2019s most intense battles, such as the Battle of Belleau Wood, the Saint-Mihiel Campaign and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.<\/p>\n

He was killed on the last day of the war as he worked to pull his men back from the front line. He is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Plot D Row 24, Grave 26.<\/p>\n

He was 21 years old.<\/p>\n

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U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Arthur Fredericks, the Connecticut National Guard’s senior enlisted advisor, presents Rick Maynard a Connecticut World War I Campaign Medal in honor of his great-uncle’s service with the 102nd Infantry Regiment in World War I. Sgt. Paul Maynard served with Company M in multiple battles across France and ultimately perished on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188682,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188680"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188683,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188680\/revisions\/188683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/188682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=188680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=188680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}