Paul John Diemer – Second Lieutenant, United States Army

ENDS LIFE FO LEAVE INSURANCE TO ESTATE

Customers’ Man, Former Artillery Officer, Shoots Himself – Loss In Stocks Intimated
26 December 1929Paul J. Diemer, 38 years old, former officer of the 148th Field Artillery, shot and killed himself yesterday morning just outside the Seventh Precinct Police Station in Jersey City.  Until about a month ago he lived in Montclair and more recently with a brother at 8 Whitestone Avenue, Whitestone, Long Island.

The police said they found one pistol near Diemer’s body and another in his car, which was nearby.  In his coat were several letters, some of which showed that his suicide might have been the result of the Wall Street slump.

One letter apparently was in reply to a letter sent by Diemer to a broker, asking either for assistance or a job.  He had been a customers’ man.  The broker’s letter, the police said, explained that his first duty was to persons involved in the recent market break, and that Diemer was not such a victim, but was rather the victim of his own extravagance.

In another note timed at 2:20 A.M., yesterday, the note police said, Diemer explained that he was taking his life in order that his estate might benefit by about $16,000 insurance.  He asked that his body be cremated and the ashes scattered.

The brother, Edward S. Diemer, with whom the dead man has lived, said he could give no reason for his brother’s action.  He claimed the body.

DIEMER, PAUL JOHN
2ND LT 149TH FIELD ARTILLERY
DATE OF DEATH: 12/26/1929
BURIED AT: SECTION 6  SITE LOT 8448ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

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