Roy Earl Plummer was born on April 25, 1894, in Iowa, his father, Sanford, was 34 and his mother, Nancy, was 29. He moved a few times during his lifetime. He lived in Columbia, Iowa, in 1900, Garfield, KS in 1915 and moved to Finney, Kansas, by 1917. In December of 1917 Roy was called by the local draft board (see newspaper article in gallery). At that time Roy lived in Kalvesta, Gray County, KS. Also, in June of 1917, when Roy filled out his registration Card, he listed his address as Kalvesta.
But by early 1918, he found himself far from home, in uniform, training with the U.S. Army’s Company C, 140th Infantry Regiment, part of the 35th Division, a division built from the National Guards of Kansas and Missouri
After months of preparation, his unit crossed the Atlantic to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The 140th Infantry saw heavy action, first in the Vosges Mountains and later in the brutal fighting of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive—America’s largest and bloodiest operation of the war. It was there, in the midst of shellfire and trench lines, that Private Roy Earl Plummer was wounded.
In late September 1918, he wrote home and told his family that he had been hurt, but reassured them he was healing and hoped to be back on his feet soon.
Weeks later, a telegram arrived with heartbreaking news. Private Roy Earl Plummer had died in a hospital in France on November 3, 1918—just eight days before the Armistice would silence the guns across Europe. He was only 24 years old. He is buried in Cimarron, KS.
At the time of his passing, the 140th Infantry had been pulled from the front lines and was holding a quiet sector near Sommedieue, not far from Verdun. The regiment had endured terrible fighting, and now its surviving soldiers focused on patrols, defense, and regrouping.
