Doughboy MIA for July 2025: Private Winfield Carey

Private Winfield Carey was born on November 26, 1896, in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard on July 9, 1917, and was assigned to Company C, 8^th Infantry Regiment. The Pennsylvania National Guard was reorganized for active service, and his unit became the 112^th Infantry Regiment, part of the 28^th Division. He arrived in France in May 1918, arriving early enough to take part in the Second Battle of the Marne in July.

He was killed in Action on August 9, 1918, during the battle for Fismes and Fismette. Following the war, American Red Cross searcher Alfred Anderson interviewed Private Erwin Berger of the 112^th Infantry and obtained the following information about Pvt. Carey’s death:

“PVT. Carey was shot on the bridge between Fismes and Fismette about two o’clock in the morning on August 9, 1918. A bullet pierced his body near his heart. PVT Berger was part of the party that carried him to a First Aid station and states that he never regained consciousness. He met his death while advancing across the Vesle River. He was buried just outside of Fismes, and his grave can be located on a map of that sector.”

The bridge between Fismes and Fismette, where Private Carey was killed during heavy fighting on August 9, 1918.

In 1922, the Graves Registration Service contacted Private Berger to request further details regarding the death and burial of Private Carey. They asked him to indicate the location of Carey’s burial on an enclosed map. Private Berger responded with the following letter:

“I do not know where PVT. Carey’s grave is. I helped carry him to the First Aid Station. Lieutenant Little of the 1^st Battalion, 112^th Infantry Hospital Corps, pronounced him dead. We carried him outside and left him. I have marked the First Aid station on the map. I went for other wounded men and did not see him again.”

Private Carey’s family provided details of his dental work to assist investigators, but the information proved insufficient to identify him among the Unknowns. Without any further leads, his case was never solved, and he likely rests as an Unknown at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery.

In a postwar letter from Captain Kreichbaum to Captain Stine, it was said:

“Winfield Carey was killed by machine gun fire on the same morning as Theodore Crist. Carey, as you know, was only 18 years old, but no better soldier lived than he.”

The 1910 census lists Private Carey as 11 years old, so it is likely he falsified his date of birth when enlisting in the National Guard due to his young age. His service records state he was 20 years old at the time of enlistment.

Private Carey is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery.

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of Private Winfield Carey, 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.