Remembering a WWI soldier

Sharon Sanders' "Out of the Past," June 10, 2018, informed readers of Cape Girardeau news, 100 years prior: "The remains of John Guyler, a black soldier who died at Camp Lewis, Tacoma, Washington, on June 1 [1918] arrives on the early Frisco train; the body will be buried tomorrow at Fairmount Cemetery ..."

Jim Crites, late director for Cape Girardeau's cemeteries, read Sanders' article and realized Guyler's grave was unmarked. Jim wanted all soldiers buried in our cemeteries to be appropriately honored with Veterans Administration-issued headstones. John Guyler was no different, so, we embarked upon a research project to recognize, in stone, this WWI soldier's service.

Guyler was born in 1894 in Cape Girardeau into the well-known and respected Jones family. Grandparents Charles and Amanda were charter members of Second Missionary Baptist Church, his aunts (Beatrice, Ellen, Eugenia and Hattie) teachers at Cobb School and, regionally, his uncles (Enoch and John) career railroad workers. Mother and son had distinctive Greek middle names -- Rose "Xenia" (denoting hospitality) and John "Xenophen" (historian, philosopher, soldier). His mother's marriage to the Rev. Samuel M. Arthur, as John entered young adulthood, probably prompted him to strike out on his own.

When the country imposed draft registration in 1917, John was far from home. He reported to the draft board of Cascade County, Montana. His registration indicated he was 22 years old, single and an unemployed porter, living in Great Falls. The boom town would have been a lonely place for a young man of color. Blacks made up only .4% of Cascade County population, greatly outnumbered by white European immigrants hailing from Sweden, Russia, Austria, working as miners (coal and copper), chemists, railroad men -- conductors, mechanics and section men.

Guyler was inducted in October 1917, a private in the U.S. Army's 166th Depot Brigade at Camp Lewis, Tacoma, Washington. Details of John's military service are sketchy. He did not deploy overseas. After just four months, John was honorably discharged on a surgeon's certificate of 25% disability. It appears the soldier remained at Camp Lewis until his death (cause unspecified) on June 1. Camp Lewis' history indicates by September 1918 over 3,000 soldiers at the base were infected with "Spanish Influenza."

Hattie Jones, corresponding reporter for the St. Louis Argus (June 21, 1918), recapped the events of her nephew's Cape Girardeau interment: "Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon from AME Church with Rev. J G Haynes of Charleston, Missouri, officiating. The ladies of the Red Cross turned out in large numbers, while the Cape Girardeau Home Guards (white) led the cortège from the church to Fairmont Cemetery, where he was buried with the customary honors. The Colored Boy Scouts in uniform acted as an honorary escort. An ambulance of beautiful floral offerings was in evidence, making this burial of Cape's first Colored soldier boy a memorable occasion ..."

Despite greathearted community support for Pvt. Guyler's homecoming burial, his grave was unmarked for more than 100 years -- an oversight "Out of the Past" set right.