# Thomas Enright > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Enright > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Enright.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Enright > Source revision: 1353254543 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American soldier (1887–1917)}} {{for|the American mathematician|Thomas Jones Enright}} {{Infobox military person | name = Thomas Francis Enright | image = Thomas Enright from 1917 poster - "The first three!" Give till it hurts - they gave till they died LCCN00652854 (cropped).tif | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|5|7}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1917|11|3|1887|5|7}} | burial_label = | burial_place = [St. Mary Cemetery, Pittsburgh](/source/St._Mary_Cemetery%2C_Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania | birth_place = [Bloomfield](/source/Bloomfield_(Pittsburgh)), Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_place = [Lorraine](/source/Lorraine), France | nickname = | allegiance = {{Flag|United States|1912}} | branch = {{army|US}} | service_years = 1909–1916; 1917 | rank = [Private](/source/Private_(rank)) | unit = Company F, [16th Infantry Regiment](/source/16th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)), [1st Infantry Division](/source/1st_Infantry_Division_(United_States)) | commands = | battles = {{Plainlist| * [Philippine Insurrection](/source/Philippine_Insurrection) * [Pancho Villa Expedition](/source/Pancho_Villa_Expedition) * [World War I](/source/World_War_I){{KIA}} }} }} thumb|right|Monument at the Crawford County Courthouse in Van Buren, Arkansas (Note incorrect spelling of last name) [[File:First three American soldiers to die fighting in World War I, Merle Hay, Thomas Enright and James Bethel Gresham 1917 poster - "The first three!" Give till it hurts - they gave till they died LCCN00652854 (cropped).tif|thumb|First three American soldiers to die fighting in World War I, [Merle Hay](/source/Merle_Hay), Thomas Enright and [James Bethel Gresham](/source/James_Bethel_Gresham) 1917 poster]] '''Thomas Francis Enright''' (May 7, 1887 – November 3, 1917) was the first Pennsylvania serviceman, and perhaps the first American serviceman to die in combat while assigned to an American unit, in [World War I](/source/World_War_I), along with Corporal [James Bethel Gresham](/source/James_Bethel_Gresham) of [Evansville](/source/Evansville), Indiana, and Private [Merle Hay](/source/Merle_Hay) of [Glidden, Iowa](/source/Glidden%2C_Iowa).{{cite web |url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/in/county/vanderburgh/som_bio/som_gjb.html |title=CPL. James Bethel Gresham |accessdate=2015-12-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092702/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/in/county/vanderburgh/som_bio/som_gjb.html |archivedate=2016-03-04 }} == Early life and military service == Thomas Francis Enright was born May 8, 1887, in [Bloomfield, Pennsylvania](/source/Bloomfield_(Pittsburgh)). He was the seventh child of Irish [immigrants](/source/immigrants), Ellen and John Enright. He was also their first child not to be born in [Ireland](/source/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland). He enlisted in the [U.S. Army](/source/United_States_Army) in 1909. He had served in post-[Boxer Rebellion](/source/Boxer_Rebellion) China and earned the title expert cavalryman while fighting [Moros](/source/Moros) during the [Philippine Insurrection](/source/Philippine_Insurrection). By 1914, he was serving in Veracruz with the [16th Infantry Regiment](/source/16th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)). In 1916, he was in Mexico again serving under [John J. Pershing](/source/John_J._Pershing), during his expedition to locate and capture [Pancho Villa](/source/Pancho_Villa). Sometime after this, he left the army and returned to the Pittsburgh area.{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07315/832688-109.stm|title = The Next Page: Finding Private Enright}} == World War I service == [[File:The Literary digest history of the world war, compiled from original and contemporary sources- American, British, French, German, and others (1919) (14800169483).jpg|thumb|Monument to James B. Gresham, Merle D. Hay and Thomas F. Enright, designed by [Louis Majorelle](/source/Louis_Majorelle), erected November 1918 in [Bathelémont](/source/Bathel%C3%A9mont), destroyed by the Germans in October 1940]] After a short return to Pittsburgh, Enright reenlisted and joined the 16th Infantry at [Fort Bliss](/source/Fort_Bliss), Texas. On 26 June 1917, the regiment disembarked in [St. Nazaire](/source/St._Nazaire), France, as part of the [1st Infantry Division](/source/1st_Infantry_Division_(United_States)). Four months later, Enright's company was moved to the trenches of position 'Artois', near the village of Bathelémont, [Lorraine](/source/Lorraine), France. In the early morning of 3 November 1917, the [Imperial German Army](/source/Imperial_German_Army) attacked. After an hour of fighting, Enright, along with Corporal James Bethel Gresham, and Private Merle Hay were the first three casualties of the [American Expeditionary Force](/source/American_Expeditionary_Force).{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/Op-Ed/2007/11/11/The-Next-Page-Finding-Private-Enright/stories/200711110239|title = The Next Page: Finding Private Enright}} Two days later, on 5 Nov 1917, Enright, Gresham, and Hay were buried near the battlefield where they had died. An inscription marked their graves: "Here lie the first soldiers of the illustrious Republic of the United States who fell on French soil for justice and liberty." Their bodies were eventually returned to their families and reburied in the United States. On 16 July 1921, the city of Pittsburgh honored him with his casket lying in state at the [Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial](/source/Soldiers_and_Sailors_National_Military_Museum_and_Memorial) located in the city's [Oakland](/source/Oakland_(Pittsburgh)) section. The funeral procession was led by a gun casson drawn by six horse followed by a memorial service, led by [Bishop of Pittsburgh](/source/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Pittsburgh), [Hugh Charles Boyle](/source/Hugh_Charles_Boyle), was held at the [St. Paul Cathedral](/source/Cathedral_of_Saint_Paul_in_Pittsburgh). Afterwards the procession continued to [St. Mary Cemetery](/source/St._Mary_Cemetery%2C_Pittsburgh) in the city's [Lawrenceville](/source/Lawrenceville_(Pittsburgh)) neighborhood where Enright was reburied with full military honors after which a wreath from General Pershing was laid upon his grave. == See also == === First soldiers killed in World War I === * [Albert Mayer](/source/Albert_Mayer_(soldier)), the first soldier and first [Imperial German Army](/source/Imperial_German_Army) soldier killed, August 2, 1914 * [Jules-André Peugeot](/source/Jules-Andr%C3%A9_Peugeot), the first [French Army](/source/French_Army) soldier killed, August 2, 1914 * [Antoine Fonck](/source/Antoine_Fonck), the first [Belgian Army](/source/Belgian_Army) soldier killed, August 4th, 1914 * [John Parr](/source/John_Parr_(British_Army_soldier)), the first [British Army](/source/British_Army) soldier killed, August 21, 1914 * [Merle Hay](/source/Merle_Hay), one of the first three American Army soldiers killed, November 3, 1917 * [James Bethel Gresham](/source/James_Bethel_Gresham), one of the first three American Army soldiers killed, November 3, 1917 === Last soldiers killed in World War I === * [George Edwin Ellison](/source/George_Edwin_Ellison), the last British Army soldier killed, at {{no wrap|9:30 a.m. November 11, 1918}} * [Augustin Trébuchon](/source/Augustin_Tr%C3%A9buchon), the last French Army soldier killed, at {{no wrap|10:45 a.m. November 11, 1918}} * [Marcel Toussaint Terfve](/source/Marcel_Toussaint_Terfve), the last [Belgian Army](/source/Belgian_Army) soldier killed, at {{no wrap|10:45 a.m. November 11, 1918}} * [George Lawrence Price](/source/George_Lawrence_Price), the last [Canadian Army](/source/Canadian_Army) soldier killed, at {{no wrap|10:58 a.m. November 11, 1918}} * [Henry Gunther](/source/Henry_Gunther), the last soldier and last American Army soldier killed, at {{no wrap|10:59 a.m. November 11, 1918}} == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == *{{Find a Grave|10211321}} * Michael Connors (2007). [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07315/832688-109.stm Finding Private Enright: Ninety years ago this month, the first Americans died in World War I. Thomas Enright of Pittsburgh was one of the three. Here is the story of a forgotten hero.]. Retrieved from the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' November 11, 2007. * Heiman Blatt (1920). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092702/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/in/county/vanderburgh/som_bio/som_gjb.html Sons of Men: Evansville's War Record] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Enright, Thomas}} Category:1887 births Category:1917 deaths Category:Military personnel from Pittsburgh Category:American military personnel killed in World War I Category:United States Army soldiers Category:American people of Irish descent --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Enright](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Enright) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Enright?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.