The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Painesville native was hero in World War I
It has been 100 years since Alfred King’s gallant death — and meeting a fate unbecoming of a local gridiron pioneer and World War I hero, his grave looks like it.
At Evergreen Cemetery in Painesville, in Division 5, Lot 9, King’s final resting place is noted by a worn marker. A cross at its peak, his last name and “Ohio” to signify his place of enlistment are barely legible, and a nearby placard specifying his World War I service has seen better days, too.
Only one inscription on King’s headstone is clear: “November 10, 1918,” which was the day he perished on the final official day of fighting in World War I.
So much time has passed, in fact, that a root from a nearby tree has settled across his plot.
Some heroes prefer to carry out their deeds quietly, without fanfare.
The deeds of some of those heroes are simply lost to the passage of time.
But for King, as the centennial anniversary of World War I is observed, the time to laud this hero’s deeds is impeccable.
King was born Feb. 7, 1892, in Geneva to his mother Gertrude, a doctor.
The King family later settled at The Annex in Painesville, and King attended Painesville High School, the predecessor to Harvey, from which he graduated in 1911.
He was a three-year starter in football, mostly at right tackle, on some of the first gridiron teams Painesville produced.
The most success of which King was a part came during his junior season in 1909. The team started the fall with a 29-0 shutout of St. Ignatius and a 29-5 victory over Erie (Pa.).
King was reported by the Painesville Telegraph to have a fumble recovery against Erie, his lone gameaction plaudit other than being noted as a starter.
“A series of straight and crossbucks followed and then a forward pass was attempted by Bachman but was blocked by Cahill and the ball was covered by King,” the Telegraph wrote.
Painesville rebounded from a blowout loss to Ashtabula to dispatch Austinburg, 18-6. Its season was supposed to end with a game the following week against Geneva, but it was canceled. In its place, a game against Lakewood was scheduled, and it did not go well. Painesville lost, 75-6, and the harsh realities of a budding football program were laid out.
“Painesville is to be admired for the plucky way it fought,” the Telegraph reported. “In spite of their too-evident lack of knowledge of football, the boys did their best. No blame is to be attached to them for their defeat. In fact, their showing seems most credible, in view of the fact that they have had no coach at all during the season, and considering that the team had had only two days practice in the last two weeks.
“For two weeks ago, the squad was disbanded, owing to Geneva high’s cancellation of the game set for Saturday. Wednesday, the Lakewood game was scheduled, and the boys hurriedly got together. In consequence they were in no sort of condition and had forgotten what football they knew.”
King’s senior season was abbreviated, lasting two games at right tackle in 1910 as Painesville lost to University and to Glenville. In school, it was reported seniors only needed to buy three books – Channing’s “American History,” Greenough and Kittredge’s “Virgil” and Remsen’s “Chemistry” for a combined $3.30.
In June 1911, King graduated from Painesville in a class of 51, to that date the largest graduating class in the school’s history. The commencement address was given by the Rev. Charles Emerson Burton. Burton cited Luke 12:48.
“To whom so ever much is given, of him shall much be required,” Burton said. “The significance of these words for this graduating class may well be expressed in a positive paraphrase as follows: ‘To you much has been given, from you much will be required.’ “
King was about to give that premise the ultimate test.
After a year at a prep school in Washington, D.C., King received his appointment to the United States Military Academy. He entered West Point on June 14, 1912.
Had King entered West Point immediately out of high school, he would have been part of the Class of 1915, regarded as perhaps the greatest in the history of the U.S. Military Academy. Known as “The Class The Stars Fell On,” the Class of 1915 featured 59 eventual generals, including Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley.
King was instead part of the West Point Class of 1916, one of only six Ohioans in that class.
In West Point’s yearbook, “The Howitzer,” King was highly praised.
“In Alf King we have one who will stand up for his principles at all times,” the yearbook staff wrote. “He does what he thinks right regardless of the cost, and that is the sort of man we expect to hear from later.”
They were absolutely right. Upon graduation from West Point, King was commissioned as a second lieutenant for field artillery. He was promoted to captain on May 15, 1917, after being stationed in Douglas, Ariz., under the command of General John J. Pershing, and at the School of Fire in Fort Sill, Okla.
His quick ascent in rank coincided with World War I intensifying in Europe. On March 22, 1918, King and the 10th Field Artillery unit left Arizona for New York, from which they sailed to the battlefront in France.
Serving as captain of the ‘B’ battery of the 10th, King was promoted to major on July 3, 1918, near ChateauThierry after the second Battle of the Marne.
He was reported by the Telegraph to be one of the youngest majors in the service at 26.
In August, King was put in charge of ammunition for the 5th Army Corps for an operation in St. Mihiel.
After the war, in a U.S. Army tribute book to those killed in action in World War I, a fellow soldier shared a tale of running into King on the battlefront Oct. 15, 1918.
“It was in a deep dugout, lit only by a few flickering candles,” the soldier stated.
“The door opened. It was King. Plastered with mud from head to foot, unshaven, with shadows under his eyes that spoke of no sleep in many days — dog tired, yet refusing even to sit down while there was still work to be done — there he stood. His coming was an event. He simply had to stay while the Colonel and every one present told him how glad they all were to see him even for a moment.”
The soldier said King, modestly, explained how he led a company of machine gunners through enemy fire to neutralize an entire valley and get rations to troops “that had not eaten for days.”
“He stayed with us only a few minutes and then went into the night,” the soldier continued. “When he was gone, someone said, ‘There goes a man,’ and it was an expression of the thought we all had.”
On Nov. 10, on the French battlefront, King was killed while inspecting an ammunition supply for the 89th Division, 5th Army Corps.
German forces were waging their last stand, as rumors circulated surrender was near. The next day, the Armistice was signed, bringing an official conclusion to World War I. In an address to a joint session of Congress announcing the terms, President Woodrow Wilson said, “We know, too, that the object of the war is attained with a sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize.”
On Nov. 30, the War Department informed Gertrude King of her son’s death. The Telegraph described King as “a young man with a brilliant future, and his untimely death is a calamity.”
King was posthumously awarded an Army Distinguished Service Cross by President Wilson. The citation read, “For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. As munitions officer of the 5th Army Corps he performed exacting duties with untiring energy, displaying high professional attainments and a complete understanding of the needs of the troops he supplied. He personally reconnoitered roads over which transportation was to be made in order that he might keep in touch with changing conditions and be prepared to meet sudden emergencies, in order that the steady flow of munitions to the front line might be maintained. He rendered services of signal worth.”
King was one of 33 West Point graduates who were killed in action in World War I. In 1921, King’s body was repatriated to Evergreen Cemetery. Full military honors were bestowed, and a service was held at First Church Congregational in Painesville. The BrakemanKing American Legion post today is named in his honor.
In a lecture after the war to officers from the 5th Army Corps, Col. A.W. Foreman paid tribute to King.
That commencement speaker told King’s high school class that much would be required.
Growing up in Painesville, to West Point and then to the battlefront of World War I, King showed that trust was in capable stead.
“Personal danger exercised no deterrent influence upon his efforts, and time after time he escaped death by the narrowest margin,” Foreman said.
“In the face of every difficulty and danger his always present cheerfulness and optimism was an example and an inspiration to all of’ us. He died as a good soldier would wish to die, ‘as die we may and die we must.’ Let us bestow tears upon his loss, glory upon his achievements, and love and pride upon his character.”