77th Company, 6th MG Battalion
Promoted from Gunnery Sergeant to Second Lieutenant on 14 July 1918
Wounded in action at St Mihiel on 15 September 1918
Present with battalion at time of Armistice.
In Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers & Marines the following entry is found:
FITZHUGH LEE BUCHANAN, 108174, Cincinnati, Ohio
Enlisted January 25, 1915
Born Letcher County, Kentucky, January 15, 1891
Prior service: United States Army 3 years
USS Pennsylvania, April 6, 1917.
58 Company, Norfolk, Virginia, July 16, 1917.
77 Company, Quantico, Virginia, August 21, 1917.
France, December 31, 1917 to July 24, 1919.
Sergeant, May 22, 1917.
Gunnery Sergeant, September 28, 1917.
Aisne; Champagne-Marne; AEF, Dec 31, 1917 to discharge
Discharge, July 13, 1918 to enroll as Second Lieutenant MCR
Character excellent.
Award Citation General Order #64; Fourragere.
Birth date given above was “fudged” information given to Army to meet enlistment requirements. True birth date was 4 April 1894, Wise County, Virginia. Buchanan was promoted to First Lieutenant sometime before leaving France. After returning stateside, he separated from the Corps and tried his hand at both coal mining and railroading. Neither occupation was desirable in the post-war depression so he re-entered the Corps (his grandson thinks as First Lieutenant) in 1921. His serial number upon the reorganization of HQ-MC was O-124. Buchanan served in both the Nicaraguan & Haitian campaigns.
BUCHANAN, FITZHUGH L SR
MAJ US MARINE CORPS
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 04/01/1918 – 04/01/1946
DATE OF BIRTH: 04/03/1894
DATE OF DEATH: 11/13/1974
DATE OF INTERMENT: 11/18/1974
BURIED AT: SECTION 12 SITE 8459-5
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
BUCHANAN, FITZHUGH L JR
LT COL US MARINE CORPS
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 08/01/1944 – 08/01/1970
DATE OF BIRTH: 07/04/1925
DATE OF DEATH: 06/10/2001
DATE OF INTERMENT: 06/17/2002
BURIED AT: SECTION 12 SITE 8459-5
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard