The story of the last Washington County soldier killed in WW I
Sgt. Paul M. Streator
The grave of Sgt. Paul M. Streator in Washington Cemetery
The World War I Victory Medal
In early December 1918, while the nation was still in the midst of joy and relief following the Armistice ending World War I, the parents of Washington County native Paul M. Streator, a U.S. Marine sergeant, received the dreaded telegram informing them “with deep regrets” that their son had been killed in action on the last night of fighting.
He was the last serviceman from Washington County to die in the First World War.
Paul Martin Streator was born on Oct. 10, 1895, in Washington. He graduated from Washington High School in the mid-term class of 1915.
Streator was one of the first men from Washington County to join the service, signing his enlistment papers into the Marine Corps on July 24, 1917. After completing basic training at Paris Island, S.C., the private left for overseas duty with the American Expeditionary Forces, arriving in France on Feb. 24, 1918. He was assigned to the 5th Marine Regiment, 51st Company, 2nd Division.
The 5th Marine Regiment is a storied outfit, being the most highly decorated infantry regiment of the Marine Corps.
With the 5th Marines, Streator participated in much of the heaviest fighting in which the American troops were engaged. The regiment was initially in the front-line trenches in the Verdun sector of France and then fought in battles at Belleau Woods, at Soissons, at Pont A. Moussons, in the St. Mihiel sector and at Blanc Mont Ridge.
After the victory at Blanc Mont Ridge, the 5th Regiment, under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing, joined in the Meuse-Argonne offensive – the final offensive operation of the war. By Nov. 10, it had reached the far bank of the Meuse River, near Sedan, France.
By any measure, the 5-foot, 5-inch, 150-pound sergeant was the consummate Marine. He was first promoted to the rank of corporal in August 1918 and then in October, after the fierce fighting at Blanc Mont Ridge, was promoted to rank of sergeant under a temporary foreign warrant. At the time of his death, he was the acting lieutenant for his platoon. His quarterly evaluations of his professional conduct for “military efficiency,” “obedience” and “sobriety” consistently were stellar. He was never reported for any disciplinary offenses. His character was classified as “excellent”
On the night of Nov. 10, the German armistice delegates accepted the Allies’ armistice terms. The peace delegates worked out the details during the night and, at 5:10 a.m., signed the armistice that ceased hostilities as of 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918.
During the night, Streator suffered the supreme sacrifice for his country. The recommendation by his company commander that he be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross cited Streator’s final act of courage as follows:
“Constantly exposing himself to danger to safeguard the platoon entrusted to his care, he entered a copse of woods alone in the darkness of night after the crossing of the Meuse and shot the gunner and helper of a machine gunner whose fire was raking the platoon position. On his return he was exposed to a volley of the entire company that had been ordered against the woods”
The reporter for the Washington Observer in its March 30, 1921, edition wrote that his death came at 1:30 a.m. when he was struck in the chest by a fragment of a high-explosive shell and was instantly killed.
Streator was initially buried across the Meuse in the Sedan American cemetery, near the town of Letanne in the Ardennes. Upon application by his mother, his remains were disinterred and returned to Washington County. On March 30, 1921, he was reburied in the Washington Cemetery with full military honors following a ceremony at the First Christian Church which the Observer’s writer described as “marked by the utmost simplicity but impressive … as would appeal to a soldier as appropriate and fitting.”