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Alumni Gazette

ARMISTICE ANNIVERSARY ‘I’ve Got to Do Something for Uncle Sam’ More than 800 alumni, students, and faculty served during World War I. To mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice, here are a few of their stories. By Jim Mandelaro
wwi Jules Fish (Photo: University Libraries/Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation)

When the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Jules Fish knew he must serve.

“I’ve got to do something for Uncle Sam,” the Rochester first-year student told his mother.

At 19, Fish was two years under the draft age. And at six and a half feet in height, he was rejected by several branches of the military for being too tall. But he persisted, and the 23rd Infantry finally accepted him that summer. Fish’s parents reluctantly signed a consent form, and he set sail for France that September.

“It will all be over in a few months,” he reassured his worried mother. “I’m not going to be gone long.” On April 6, 1918—the first anniversary of the United States’ entrance into the war—Fish was killed in a battle near Maizey, France.

“We all lived in hopes that the inevitable had not occurred,” infantryman Donald McGary wrote in a letter to Fish’s mother. “But after the attack was over, our hopes were shattered as we witnessed four Red Cross men carrying a real hero, our pal Jules Fish, to his final resting place.”

Fish is buried in St. Mihiel American Cemetery in France. The University awarded his degree posthumously in 1920. Fish was one of 862 University students, alumni, and faculty members who served for the Allies in World War I—at home and abroad, on the front lines, in hospitals, and on American training bases. Of them, 326 served outside the United States, at sea, on land, or in the air.

Twelve Rochester women are also known to have served. Eleven men gave their lives.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the armistice for “the War to End All Wars,” here are some of the members of the University community who answered the call.