Max Belle
(1895-1918)
(1895-1918)
Signature on WWI draft registration card
2nd Engineer Battalion Coat of Arms
Gravestone Private Max Belle, Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, Belleau, Aisne, France
Max Belle
*No plaque found
*No soldier photograph found in the following book: Doyle, A. C., Haulsee, W. M., Howe, F. G. Soldiers of the Great War. Washington, DC: Soldiers Record Publishing Company, 1920.
Address: 2051 E. 14th St., Cleveland, Ohio
Demographics: age 21 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; religion Jewish; declarant for U.S. citizenship; occupation Salesman at [?illegible] Cohn Store
Appearance: Height 5'5", Build medium, Eyes brown, Hair black
Service Number: 301196
Deployment: 2/27/1918 from Hoboken, NJ aboard "Ship 3"
Action: Co D 2 Engineers served in a combat role during the Battle of Belleau Wood in France from June 1-26, 1918 and suffered a nearly 13% casualty rate. Author and veteran John Thomason wrote, "There were always good feelings between the Marines of the 2d Division and the Regular Army units that formed it, but the Marines and the 2d Engineers - 'Say, if I ever get a drink, a 2d Engineer can have half of it! Boy they dig trenches and mend roads all night, and they fight all day!" [Wikipedia]
Additional Information: Original surname may have been Balen or Zalman. Brother: Harry Belle (1891-1947), born Lithuania, religion Jewish, Hebrew name: Aharon Yitzhak bar Hersh Zalman, emigrated 1907, married Anna Tsesler [aka Chesler] in 1912 and appears to have had 3 daughters, occupation Dry Cleaner and Tailor at Colfax Cleaners at 6942 Colfax Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH, buried at Lansing Avenue Jewish Cemetery, 5716 Lansing Ave., Cleveland, OH, Row R-39
No additional family information found.