Thomas Birhanzl

*No plaque located*

*The list of Liberty Row names shows that this soldier's plaque was placed at "St. Clair to Superior Ave (Right)."

Birth: 3/8/1894, Cleveland, OH

Address: 3411 E. 70th St., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: age 23 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; native-born citizen; occupation Coremaker at Allyne-Ryan Foundry Co., 9102 Aetna Rd. in the Union-Miles Park neighborhood, Cleveland, OH (founded 1913 and manufactured automobile cylinders and hard-to-cast items); a Coremaker works in a foundry to create cores used in metal castings for equipment and machinery. 

Appearance: Height medium, Build slender, Hair brown, Eyes brown

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/15/1917; 5/26/1918; Private

Service Number: 2660567

Deployment: 7/22/1918 from New York aboard RMS Carmania along with his brother Charles Birhanzl

Action: 33 Co 3 Inf Repl Regt May 28/18 to July 15/18; 25 Co July Aut Repl Draft to ---; Hq 83 Div 2 Dep to Aug 13/18; Co D 16 Inf to Oct 12/18. Pvt. Meuse-Argonne. Cited in GO 1 Div Dated Jan 1/20. AEF July 22/18 to Oct 12/18

Death: October 12, 1918 at age 24; cause of death Died of Wounds

Burial: buried locally in France; 5/1/1919 remains disinterred and reburied at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery; 6/24/1921 remains disinterred and prepared for return to U.S.; 7/3/1921 remains shipped to Antwerp, Belgium; 8/6/1921 remains shipped to Hoboken, NJ aboard SS Wheaton and arrived 8/20/1921; 8/31/1921 remains shipped to Cleveland, OH and received 9/2/1921 to the care of Joseph Birhanzl, brother, 3415 E. 70th St., Cleveland, OH; final burial on 9/6/1921 at Woodland Cemetery, 6901 Woodland Ave., Cleveland, OH

Next of Kin: Mr. Joseph Birhanzl, brother, 3415 E. 70th St., Cleveland, OH 

Additional Information: Private Thomas Birhanzl's parents had both died by the time he was 10 years of age. The 1910 Census showed him living with his grandmother, Anna Pech, and his siblings. Father: Thomas (aka Tomas) Birhanzl (1869-1896), born Austria, occupation Laborer, died in his mid-20s at his place of residence of "suicide by shooting;" Mother: Frantiska "Fannie" Pech Birhanzl Beran (1878-1907), born Austria-Bohemia, immigrated 1882, occupation Dressmaker, per 1900 Census was widowed and living with four sons, mother remarried in 1901 to Joseph Beran, born Bohemia, occupation Tailor, mother had at least one child with second husband, mother died of nephritis at ~age 30; Siblings: Joseph Birhanzl (1890-1939), who died October 12, 1939, the same month and day as his brother Private Thomas Birhanzl died; Charles Birhanzl (1891-1947), a WWI veteran who was severely wounded in action on 10/9/1918 (3 days before his brother Thomas died) and later was honorably discharged; Frank Birhanzl (1896-1924) was also a WWI veteran who was honorably discharged and later died of Tuberculosis; there may have been Step-Siblings. Many family members buried at Woodland Cemetery.