Doughboy MIA For December 2024: PFC Leslie Warren Darling

PFC Leslie Warren Darling was born on August 23, 1895, in Chicago, Illinois. He later relocated to Shenandoah, Iowa, where he worked as a reporter for a local newspaper and served as secretary for the Methodist Sabbath School. He took the civil service exam for the position of Railway Clerk but enlisted in the Iowa National Guard before he was offered the job. He was assigned to Company ‘E’ of the 168th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division, and sailed to France aboard the Baltic on November 23, 1917.

In May of 1918, PFC Darling penned a letter to his father detailing the fearlessness he witnessed amongst his comrades. He wrote:

“I want to tell you of the courage and bravery displayed by every man. During the bombardment, no matter what happened, I never saw a man flinch from duty. It was certainly a wonderful spirit, one of which can never be seen only by those who are there…”

Grave #7 in the American section of the French Military Cemetery at Chateau-Thierry

On July 26th, 1918, PFC Darling was severely wounded by a bullet near Ferme de la Croix Rouge during the Aisne-Marne Offensive. He died from his wounds two days later in Field Hospital No. 166, ran by the 117th Sanitary Train. In a postwar interview, Sergeant Everett Briggs, also from Shenandoah, Iowa, recalled the event:

“We had just taken over the line on the Chateau-Thierry front in the Foret De Fere about 15 kilometers northeast of Chateau-Thierry. On the 26th of July, we made our first advance. We were crossing an open field amid a hot exchange of rifle and M.G. fire, when Darling was hit in the side by a bullet. He was taken back to the first aid station shortly after he was wounded. We were later informed he died in Field Hospital No. 117.”

Harper Anderson, the Clerk for Company ‘E,’ wrote to Darling’s father with details regarding his death. He wrote:

“Dear Mr. Darling: I helped carry Leslie from the first aid station to the regimental station. From there, he was put in an Ambulance and taken to the Hospital. On July 26th, he was wounded by a machine gun bullet on his right side near his hip. I looked at the wound, and the courage he showed after being wounded made me think he would live… If I live through it, I will be able to give you more details, and if you want any information, drop me a line, and I will be glad to tell you what I can.”

Following his death, PFC Darling was reportedly interred in Grave #7 in the American section of the French Military Cemetery at Chateau-Thierry, identified as Cemetery #388 by the Graves Registration Service. The American Red Cross photographed his grave in Cemetery #388 and mailed the photograph to his family back home in Iowa. In February of 1919, his stepmother passed away, reportedly due to extreme grief as her health began failing at the news of her son’s death.

Grave 78, Row 12, Block B at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery

In October 1921, an audit was conducted on Cemetery #388, which revealed major discrepancies. Grave #7, which was reported to contain the remains of PFC Darling, instead contained the remains of CPL Hale Dirlam, Company ‘B’, 166th Infantry, 42nd Division. CPL Dirlam was reportedly interred in Grave #17, and when this grave was opened, it was found to contain the remains of an Unknown American Soldier. Unfortunately, there is no recorded attempt to identify these unknown remains as PFC Darling.

In May 1924, a Graves Registration Service Investigator noted that this case was never submitted to the Board of Review for identification. From here, the case again went cold.

Further researching this case, we find that 17 Unknown Soldiers from Cemetery #388 were reburied into the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. Of these, nine were connected to the identity of eight men who were known to be buried in the cemetery but could not be identified during the cemetery evacuation in 1921.

When cross-referencing records pertaining to the burial of Unknowns, we find that the Unknown Soldier initially interred in Grave #17 at Cemetery #388 was designated as “Unknown Soldier C-2 and C-3”. We can trace the final resting place of these remains to the Unknown Soldier buried in Grave 78, Row 12, Block B at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France.

It is possible that PFC Darling is the Unknown Soldier interred in this grave. However, without the missing GRS Form-16 for this Unknown Soldier, a comparison between PFC Darling and the unidentified remains cannot be conducted, thus leaving the identity unknown. Men From Company ‘E’ described Darling as “A good soldier and a clean-cut man.”  His death was felt by many of his comrades.

PFC Darling is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of PFC Leslie Warren Darling, and all the other Americans still in MIA status from World War I? You can! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization today, and help us bring them home! Help us do the best job possible and give today, with our thanks.  Remember: A man is only missing if he is forgotten.