John C. McLaughlin

Birth: ?July 1890 or 1891, Cushendum, Ireland

Address: 6515 Gordon Ct. (aka Gordon St. and W. 65th St.), Cleveland, Ohio

Demographics: age 26 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; declarant for citizenship; occupation Switchman at Corrigan-McKinney Steel Co., Cleveland, OH at "River Furnace" location. [Corrigan-McKinney Steel Co. was established in Cleveland in the 1890's, built a plant and furnace along the Cuyahoga River, had extensive iron ore and coal reserves, and was acquired by Republic Steel in 1935. A switchman assists in the movement of freight cars, including throwing switches, disengaging couplings, and signaling the engineer. Job qualifications would have included physical strength, mechanical skills and adherence to safety.]

Appearance: Height medium, Build medium, Eyes grey, Hair auburn

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 9/20/1917; Private (at deployment listed as Corporal)

Service Number: 734753

Deployment: 4/24/1918 from Hoboken, NJ aboard SS Leviathan. Ship manifest shows his name crossed out in red and the letters AWOL (absent without leave) recorded above his name.

Action: Co B 331 Infantry to 22 Feb 1918; Co B 11 Infantry to death. Private St Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne. American Expeditionary Forces 30 Apr 1918 to death.

Death: September 12, 1918 at age 27; cause of death Killed in Action

Burial: 10/15/1918 buried locally in France after death; remains disinterred and reburied at least once in France with final burial at St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France, Plot C Row 28 Grave 11 [no gravestone photograph on cemetery website]

Next of Kin: Mary McLaughlin, sister, 6515 Gordon Ct., Cleveland, OH and Patrick J. McLaughlin, brother-in-law, same address 

Additional Information: Beneficiary listed as James McLaughlin, brother, Barmeen, County Antrim, Ireland. No additional information found about parents and family, in part due to the prevalence of the surname McLaughlin.