Francis Lupo
Encyclopedia
Private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...

 Francis Lupo, United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 (February 24, 1895 – July 20, 1918) is the U.S. service member who was, possibly, missing in action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...

 for the longest known period, his remains being recovered in 2003 and repatriated. He was killed in action near Soissons
Soissons
Soissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about northeast of Paris. It is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 during the Army's first large-scale offensive operation of the First World War.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, Lupo delivered newspapers before being drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 in October, 1917, along with hundreds of thousands of other young American men after Congress declared war on Germany at the behest of President Woodrow Wilson. With only a fifth grade education, he arrived in France in March, 1918, and was assigned to the 18th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. On July 20 his battalion took part in a French-led attack on a German-held salient
Salient
Salient may refer to:* See Salients, re-entrants and pockets for the battlefield feature* Salient , part of a discrete territory projecting out of the main portion, bordered by foreign territory on three sides, into which it projects...

 near Soissons. Lupo fell in combat on that same day and was hastily buried on the battlefield, in the same grave with another U.S. soldier.

In 2003, French archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 discovered the remains of both men. After the identification of his remains, Lupo's living next-of-kin contacted by the Army was his niece, Rachel Kleisinger. The soldier found along with Lupo remains unidentified. Lupo was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

in September, 2006. The location of the grave is section 66, grave number 7489.

Lupo's name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the World War I Victory Medal with three Battle Clasps.

External links

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