AGAIN: After our story on the dog tag of Cpl. James Uber being recovered in France, we were contacted by a Bradford resident who had an old dog tag in his possession.
“I don’t even know where it came from,” the man said. He dropped it off at The Era, asking that we pass it along to the National Guard, too.
This tag belonged to Pvt. Cleo H. Moyer of Co. B 112 Infantry.
We did a bit of searching for more information, and found that he is actually buried in McKean Memorial Park Cemetery at Lafayette. He was born Sept. 3, 1899, and died April 1, 1953.
A small story, similar to an obituary, appeared in The Era on April 3, 1953.
Mr. Moyer was a veteran of World War I, serving in the U.S. Armed Forces — the Pennsylvania National Guard — “in the 1917-1918 conflict.”
He lived in Bradford for about 20 years before moving to Buffalo, N.Y., where he passed away in 1953, leaving a wife and brother as survivors.
We turned to Lt. Col. Gregory Davis, retired, Pennsylvania National Guard, for help. In the state archives, he was able to track down that Moyer enlisted July 17, 1917, in Meadville. He found, too, that Moyer received a Purple Heart after being wounded in the right hip from a grenade explosion on Oct. 1, 1918. He had fought in the battles at Chateau Thierry, Fismes and Argonne Forest.
It was at the Battle of Argonne Forest where Moyer was wounded. The battle was part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, one of the attacks that brought an end to the war. More than a million American soldiers participated; more than 26,000 were killed in action and more than 120,000 were wounded.
Lt. Col. Davis has tracked down the family and will be reaching out to explain the tag has turned up.
He is the man who tracked down Cpl. Uber’s family as well. While some might consider it a hobby, it seems to be more of a calling for Greg, one he doesn’t take lightly. Returning a tag to a family, or adding it to a museum to tell a soldier’s story is something in which he takes great pleasure.
“We hold those things in reverence,” he told us.
