Private Claud Close Howard, USA
Claud Close Howard was born March 14, 1896 in Whitehall, Illinois to William and Naomi Howard. His father was a farmer. He appears to have been their sole child. By 1910 the family had moved to Deming NM where Claud completed public schools in 1915. He then taught one year before enrolling at NM A&M College in the fall of 1916 for his freshman year. In May of 1917 he signed up for selective service. He was working for the US Post Office in Deming when in April 1918 he was selected for service and ordered to Camp Funston for training. There he was assigned to the Machine Gun Company, 356th Infantry, 89th Infantry Division. The unit departed New York on June 4th and by June 20th was in France. On August 3rd, the unit assumed positions in the trenches below Bourcq. On September 8th the unit shifted to the lines below Fliry in preparation for the St Mihiel offensive. On September 12th after an opening barrage, the advance on the St Mihiel salient began and the Machine Gun Company was one of the first units over the top. By September 23rd the offensive had slowed. Word came down that the unit was to participate in a dangerous holding attack against German positions the next day. One section of the 3rd platoon was to accompany.
Shortly after that group cleared the lines an intensive counter barrage began. Private Claud Close Howard, along with four other members of the section, was killed. Private Howard’s body was unable to be recovered and he remains missing in action. He is remembered on the Tablet of the Missing at the St Mihiel American cemetery. He was 21 years of age at the time of his death in service to his nation. The Deming Veterans of Foreign Wars Chapter 1477 is named in his honor and a memorial to him stands in front of the Luna County Courthouse.