The Great War ended on Nov. 11. It must have sucked to be the last American killed in the war. Especially since the death made no difference in the outcome. Germany was decisively defeated at this point and had agreed to a cease-fire called the Armistice. It was agreed to at 5 A.M. and both sides were committed to ending the fighting at 11 A.M. Unfortunately for the doughboys, Gen. Pershing disagreed with the termination of the war. He felt the agreement let the Germans off too easy. He had 6 hours still available and was determined to make the Germans howl before the guns were silenced. While the British and French patiently waited in their trenches, Pershing ordered his boys to go over the top and kill as many Germans as possible in the time remaining. The 89th Division was assigned the task of liberating a town (Stenay) which was automatically going to be liberated at 11 A.M. The capture of the town came with more than 300 American casualties. Overall, around 300 Americans were killed across the Western Front in those closing hours and more than 3,500 men were casualties. One of those men was the last American to die in the war. He died so Pershing could teach the Germans a lesson.
https://historycollection.co/20-historic-events-even-the-movies-wont-touch/15/
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