Private First Class Alexander J. McElheran

One of the 56 men listed on the memorial plaques of the Miantonomi Memorial Tower is Private First Class Alexander J. McElheran (ASN # 367,583), who was killed in action on October 12, 1918, while serving in Company I, 114th Infantry Regiment, 57th Infantry Brigade, 29th Division (National Guard).
Private McElheran was inducted into the National Army on April 30, 1918, at Newport, Rhode Island. On May 15, 1918, he was embarked in the troopship Lenape when it departed Newport News, Virginia, for Europe. He listed his primary next of kin (PNOK) as his father, Donald McElheran, living at Layde Cushendall, County Antrim, Ireland.

Company I, 114th Infantry Regiment, 57th Infantry Brigade, 29th Division (National Guard), served in the Center Sector, Haute-Alsace, France, from July 25, 1918 to September 22, 1918. It was during this time that Private McElheran was promoted to Private First Class on September 5, 1918. His unit then participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive from October 8, 1918 to October 30, 1918. It was on the fifth day of this Allied offensive that Private First Class McElheran was killed in action.

After the war, his remains were buried in Plot G, Row 41, Grave 36, at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery near the village of Romagne-Sous-Montfaucon, Meuse, France. He is one of 210 Rhode Islanders who served during World War I who remain buried in American Battle Memorial Commission (ABMC) cemeteries in Europe.

Please contact Matthew McCoy at riww1cc@gmail.com for more information about the Rhode Island World War One Centennial Commission's efforts to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the men and women who served during World War I.

#WeWillRememberThem #RIWW1CC