David Putnam

He resided at 1105 Park Ave. Kansas City, Missouri.  He was inducted into the Army in Kansas City on July 5, 1918 and given serial number 3,086,056.  He served as a Sergeant with Headquarters Company,  163rd Infantry Regiment of the 41st Infantry Division, I Army Corps.

 

 He was at Camp McArthur Infantry Replacement and Training Camp until October 15, 1918; and with Camp McArthur Replacement Draft until September 14, 1918; and finally with HQ Co. 163rd Infantry until discharge.  He served overseas from August 24, 1918 – April 21, 1919, being promoted to Sergeant on September 19, 1919.

 

The 41st was first activated for Army service in April 1, 1917 primarily from National Guard units of the Northwestern United States and trained at Camp Green, North Carolina.  It consisted of the 81st Infantry Brigade (161st and 162nd Infantry Regiments) and the 82nd Infantry Brigade (163rd and 164th Infantry Regiments). 

 

On November 26, 1917 the first elements of the division embarked for Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).  Men of the 41st were aboard the SS Tuscania when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk with the loss of 210 lives off the coast of Northern Ireland on February 5, 1918.

 

 In France, the 41st Division received a major disappointment, being designated as a replacement division and not going to combat as a unit.  The majority of its infantry personnel went to the 1st, 2nd, 32nd and 42nd Infantry Divisions where they served throughout the war. 

 

 He died 3 Aug 1981 and is buried in the Antioch Cemetery in Gower, Clinton County, Missouri.