James Reynolds

James Joseph Reynolds was born the 28 July 1887 in Cammagh, Ballinamuck. 

James emigrated to the US, and was working on the railways in California by 1913. By 1917, had become a naturalised citizen and was working as a lumberjack with the Sloat Lumber Company in Sloat, Plumas County California. His brothers, Joseph and Felix were also in California. 

In 1917, James was registered for the Draft in July 1917, and formally enlisted for service on the 7 October 1917. During WW1, the 103rd were part of the 52nd Infantry Brigade, within the 26th Infantry Division, also known as the 'Yankee Division'. The Division was one of the first US regiments stationed to the Western front arriving at Saint-Nazaire, France, on the 21 September 1917, and trained at Neufchâteau by the French forces. This division saw action at a number of major battles in 1918, including the Battle of Sainte-Mihiel. After WW1, James returned to California and continued in the lumber industry; by the outbreak of WW2 he was working at the Graeagle Lumber Company. Other family members, including his brothers Felix (originally in lumber, but later became a merchant) and John also resided in Plumas at one point. 

In the application for James's US Veteran headstone, it was noted that James was awarded the Purple Heart medal, although no further detail is available at present. 

James's brother John was also drafted to the Army in WW1; their brother Edward was killed in action at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Newspaper mention of death and estate, Portola Reporter, November 1956 (click on OCR link to read text); Link to Civil Record of Birth; Find A Grave entry; link to Plumas National 19 July 1917, showing enlisted men;