THE DEDICATION OF THE 1915 MEMORIAL TO RICHARD HALL

The following description of the dedication of the Dick Hall Memorial was prepared by Louis P. Hall, Jr. '11, brother of Dick Hall, for a memorial book to be issuedby the Class of 1915. As giving further details concerning the resting place of thefirst Dartmouth man to die in the war and, so far as known, the first American to lose, his life, the editors have thought it wise to give the story even greater circulation.

On September 9, 1921, a group of friends was gathered around the grave of Richard Nelville Hall. Though small in number they had come from far aind near, and there were among them those who had known Dick well in the various periods of his. too brief life. There were those, too, who had never known him save through the glory of his early sacrifice. But all had gathered there to pay him tribute at the dedication of the Dartmouth Stone, carved from the Granite of New Hampshire and sent to Alsace by his classmates of Dartmouth College.

On the face of this Memorial Stone is a beautiful bronze tablet bearing the following inscription:

RICHARD NELVILLE HALL May 18, 1894 December 25, 1915 GRADUATE OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE CLASS OF 1915 Member of Section Three of the American Ambulance Field Service killed by the explosion of a shell while in the performance of his duty AN AMERICAN WHO DIED FOR FRANCE AND MANKIND "CHEVALIER DE LA BIENFAISANCE"

This granite stone, taken fromthe hills surrounding the college ofhis graduation and typifying thesimplicity and strength of its spirit,is placed as a tribute of affectionand honor by the members of hisclass.

This stone is the mark of honor and love to the first American Ambulance man, and the first man from Dartmouth College, who gave his life for Franceearly Christmas morning, 1915.

The French Military cemetery in which Dick is buried lies on the slope erf a Small spur of the Vosges Mountains, just back of the town of Moosch, Alsace. Moosch is one of the quaintest villages in the valley of the Thur and to the north of the ancient town of Thann. The valley was taken by the French troops during the first days of the War and held by them until, by the Treaty of Versailles, it was definitely returned to France together with all of Alsace and Lorraine. Dick lies buried in the first of many rows of the graves of his fallen French comrades, most of them killed, as he had been, in the bitter conflicts for possession of Hartmannsweilerkopf during the early days of the War.

The sun shone bright on this glorious September morning. The great wind-worn Tricolor floated high above the open square between the graves, casting its waving shadow over the cross of green grass and onto the rows of croixde-bois nearby. There were flowers everywhere and in the sunlight of that glorious morning there was an air of quiet contentment over the silent graves of those "bons camarades de guerre."

Dick's grave in the foreground of the cemetery is surrounded by a low white rail, a tribute from Section IX which succeeded Section III in the work of the American Ambulance in Alsace. The stone given by the classmates of Dartmouth, too wide to be placed as a headstone, had been placed just across the path below the grave, facing the grave and against an evergreen hedge.

Back in the mountains and close to the edge of the steep narrow road over which Dick had driven his wounded Frenchmen to the hospitals below, stands a rude wooden cross. This cross is made from pieces of his shattered ambulance. It is held upright by a cairn of stones placed there, one by one, as his comrades passed the spot where Dick had fallen. Over these stones wild ivy had grown. Some of this ivy we had taken to decorate the Dartmouth Stone. The Memorial had then been veiled by the flags of France and America.

Assembled for the dedication were Dick's parents, Dr. and Mrs. Flail, of Ann Arbor; Mr. and Mrs. Louis P. Hall, Jr., of Paris; Mademoiselle Anna and Mademoiselle Marie Muller, from Moosch, whose devotion had kept the grave constantly bright with flowers, and three members of the Spiller family in whose home in Saint Maurice Dick had been billetted during three happy, arduous months before his (Section had been transferred across the border into Alsace. Other Americans., members of Dick's fraternity, were Moreau Crosby of Grand Rapids, and Roy Manny, of Paris.

The French Republic was represented by M. Jules Scheurer, Senateur from Haut Rhin, accompanied by Madame Scheurer. M. and Mme. Scheurer, had lost their two sons in the early part of the War, one in the Champagne and the other near Hartmannsweilerkopf and within gunshot of their beautiful home. With their daughter these charming French people had remained in their home throughout the War, frequently entertaining, in their generous and gracious manner, officers and men from the nearby front.

In the absence of Pasteur Henri Monnier who had conducted the burial services for Dick six years before, the Church was represented by a close friend of his, Pasteur Bartholome, of Thann.

The opening address, in English, was read by Mr. Roy Manny. Following this was a prayer in French by Pasteur Bartholomé. The English Prayer of Invocation was then given, followed by the History of the Memorial read by Mr. Crosby. During the closing sentences of the History the Memorial was unveiled by Mademoiselle Jeanne Spiller. Mr. Manny then read the message from President Hopkins.

In his quiet, forceful way, M. Scheurer, after a sincere appreciation of Dick's sacrifice, expressed a formal acceptance of the Dartmouth Memorial on behalf of France and the Alsacians of the Thur Valley.

The Tablet Unveiled

The Cemetery at Moosch