"If I ever wanted to be about the size of an ant, it was when I crawled through that hell of shellfire and slid over onto that sunken road." (Memoir, page 162)

James Nelson Platt

James Nelson Platt War: World War, 1914-1918 Branch: Army Unit: 12th Machine Gun Battalion, 4th Division Service Location: LaTurne, Paris, and Chateau Thierry, France Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: CT

James Platt sailed for Europe in the spring of 1918 as a private and returned home eight months later as a sergeant. Not long after landing in France, he volunteered for typing duty and was given corporal's stripes; he soon became a map reader and then was promoted to mess sergeant. When his company's commanding officer was killed, Platt took over briefly. His familiarity with maps helped him guide his men out of trouble. In his memoir, he vividly describes the war's devastation and is honest about his fear of being shot.