It would be impossible to reflect on Pittsburgh’s involvement in the Great War without including a bit of history surrounding Thomas Francis Enright, one of the first Americans to be killed during the war. Enright was born and raised in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, joined the Army prior to the United States’ involvement in the war, got out of the Army, but then re-enlisted when the United States declared war with Germany. Enright was killed on November 3, 1917, along with two fellow soldiers of Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, First Division; James B. Gresham from Evansville, Indiana, and Merle D. Hay from Glidden, Iowa. These three men were the first Americans to be killed in the Great War.
This educational website was created from a desire to learn more about World War I history by actively seeking out information about the “Great War” through the lens of people who lived in Western PA, or the Pittsburgh Region. It’s been shown that understanding and retaining knowledge of a complex subject can come easier when it is associated with something that is already familiar. Anyone who has studied the Great War can attest to the complexities of this period in history.