St. Vincent WWI Veterans

'Casualty' does not always mean 'Killed in Action'
It can also mean 'Wounded' - I knew at least one of 
the men in the list when I was growing up; he was
very much alive for many years after the Great War
[Click to enlarge]

I discovered a blog today with a 'casualty listing' for Kittson County World War I veterans on it.  I excerpted from it all veterans from St. Vincent in the list you see to the left.  This type of listing only contain names of those killed or wounded in action; it's not a comprehensive list of everyone who served (so far I haven't found one that includes all who served...)

I was interested to see that one of my great uncles is listed...William Samuel Fitzgerald.  I had known he was in WWI, but nothing about his experiences. He definitely didn't die in the war, but must have been WIA.

William S. Fitzgerald's draft registration card
The Selective Service Act was only passed
the month before in May 1917...

One St. Vincent veteran of WWI that is not on the list is William's younger brother (because he wasn't a 'casualty').  Below is an image of a postcard sent by my great uncle Edward Fitzgerald, to his sister (and my grandmother) Elizabeth Jane (Fitzgerald) Fitzpatrick, while he was in basic training. Transcription of the card says: 

4/13/1918 

Co J Camp Ross, Great Lakes, Ill.  

Dear Sister:  

This is what a person can see every Wednesday afternoon at Main Comp (Company?) Notice all the visitors along the right of the picture.  

The review we had last Wednesday when Secretary Daniels was here, there was about twice as many "jackies" on the field.  

Ed 
(on the other side was a photograph of service men in review...)

While William was in the Army, his younger brother Ed was in the Navy.