The Massachusetts National Guard Old 9th Regiment Company M was sent to Newburyport to guard the bridges on May 1st, 1917. They guarded Newburyport's bridges until July 1st when they were sent to Camp McGinnis in Framingham for training.
On July 1st, Pvt George W. Gravelle fell off a train in Newburyport and was killed. He was nineteen years old. He never made it to Framingham never mind France. Instead his body was returned to Lowell for his funeral.
He was born in Lowell on September 8, 1898 the youngest child of Charles and Lucy (Chabot) Gravelle. He was survived by five brothers, Joseph, Alfred, John, Arthur and William and three sisters, Rose Parks, Mabelle Whalley and Dorothy Welch. His mother died in 1914 and his father died in 1918. We worked as an apprentice iron moulder.
A military funeral took place at St. Jean Baptiste with Company M forming the honor guard. Burial was in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Chelmsford.
Please remember Pvt George Gravelle and his family's sacrifice.
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