Leslie Warren Darling, born on August 23rd, 1895 in Chicago to Jerome Harvey DARLING and Jessica ‘Jessie’ WARREN, served in Iowa’s 168th Infantry during the First World War. This unit was attached to the 42nd Division, commonly known as the Rainbow Division, of the American Expeditionary Force [AEF]. Nearly 30 years later during World War II, this division was commanded by General George S. Patton and liberated the concentration camp at Dachau, Germany near Munich. During World War I, the division was comprised primarily of Army National Guard detachments, which had the first Americans to see action in Europe. Leslie Darling was a private first class in Company E. His serial number was 100884. While fighting with his regiment in the Battle at La Croix Rouge Farm, about 25 kilometers northeast of Chateau Thierry, France, he was critically wounded in action. There is some confusion in the military and hospital documents about what followed. However, he was likely sent to a field hospital. Military paperwork recorded the field hospital as the 117th. Yet, no field hospital with that number existed. Apparently the number may refer to what was called a ‘sanitary train.’ According to World War I historian and collector Gilles Lagin, who lived near battlefields and cemeteries surrounding Chateau Thierry, Leslie Darling was probably taken by ambulance to the closest aid station or to a nearby field hospital. A resident of Marigny-en-Orxois, Lagin opearates the only museum in France devoted solely to the American Expeditionary Forces. Eventually Leslie was transferred to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. He died on July 28, 1918, three days after the intense battle. Consequently his body was buried in the adjacent Aisne-Marne cemetery, which is sometimes referred to as Belleau or Chateau Thierry. His name is inscribed on the interior of the chapel. Jerome Darling, often known simply as ‘Grandpa Darling,’ was living in Ogden, Iowa when he was notified of his son’s death. For several weeks he had written letters to Leslie not knowing about his tragic end. After several years with Geneva Darling Hay, and then Lois and Henry Rasmussen, the letters are now in the possession of Gordon and Shirley Heber of South Dakota. In 1969 while on a trip to Europe, Frank and Azalea Davis visited the Chateau Thierry area with their children Ann and Paul. Azalea recalled the scene with hundreds of white crosses stretching across the landscape. “We didn’t find a cross with his name. We walked up one of the paths to a small chapel where those soldiers whose bodies could not be found had their names on a wall.... His name was there,” she said. Azalea continued, “[T]here was no one else there except a man with a wheelbarrow cutting the dead roses off of the hundreds of beautiful bushes.... I.... asked [for] a spray from the ones he was discarding.... I brought [it] back to Mom [Geneva Hay]. She framed it and had it above her kitchen all those years when she lived in town [Lake Preston, South Dakota]. I think I gave it to Marilyn [Geisler] after Mom died.” On Memorial Day in May 2001, American veterans returned for a tour of the area and dedicated a plaque to the men of the Rainbow Division. http://www.sauruspress.com/travel/remembrance/ourq_river.htm http://www.frommers.com/articles/2816.html http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/greatwar/2006-08/1156352864 http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/greatwar/2001-09/0999576077 http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/greatwar/2001-09/0999625790 _________________________________________________________________ Live Earth is coming.  Learn more about the hottest summer event - only on MSN. http://liveearth.msn.com?source=msntaglineliveearthwlm