My great uncle Sergt.John Hussey was killed in WW1 in 1918 during
battle at St. Juvin France. He was Irish by birth and naturalized
American. He had emigrated to the US and was drafted in 1917. He was
unmarried, his Irish parents had passed on. I am wondering who then
would have been awarded his Distingushed Service Cross for bravery and
also where he might have been buried. I also have read that the US
Gov't compiled a list of mothers and widows to visit the overseas
graves of KIAs in Europe...since he was neither married nor with
parents, would that offer have passed on to another family member?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 12 May 2006 05:45 PDT

Just to make sure I'm searching for the correct person: Do you mean
Sergeant John Hussey who served in Company I, 325th Infantry Regiment,
82d Division, and who was killed on 16 October 1918 while leading his
platoon's attack against a machine-gun trench after the platoon leader
had died?

Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by jeffo55-ga on 29 May 2006 12:33 PDT

Yes, this is the Sergeant John Hussey who served in Company I, 325th
Infantry Regiment, 82d Division, and who was killed on 16 October 1918
while leading his
platoon's attack against a machine-gun trench after the platoon leader
had died. We may be able to visit St. Juvin this summer and would like
to visit his grave, if it is there. Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 29 May 2006 13:57 PDT

According to the database of the American Battle Monuments Commission
[1], Sgt. John Hussey is not buried at any of the American military
cemeteries in France. Unless his body could not be recovered after the
battle he died in, so that his remains could not be given a burial,
this means that the American Graves Registration Service,
Quartermaster General of the War Department, had located some
next-of-kin who decided that the body be returned to the USA for
burial there, as almost two thirds of all American casualties in WWI.
But I could not find out any details.

If his body was returned to the USA, he was not buried in a grave on a
National Cemetery administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs;
he is not listed in their database [2].

I'd say that the only way to find out where John Hussey is buried or,
at least, who was the next-of-kin who decided that the body be
returned to the USA, is to inquire with the National Archives.
However, their documents are incomplete due to a fire in the 1970s.
Nevertheless, it is worth trying:

National Archives
Modern Military Records Branch
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-600
--
E-Mail: inquire@nara.gov

Since this is not a satisfying answer to your question, I have posted
it as a free comment you won't have to pay for.

Regards,
Scriptor



[1] http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwi.php

[2] http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1