Francis Darwin Ackley
4/15/1896 - 1/20/1919
Corporal Francis Ackley of Elmira, has been cited for exceptional bravery
under fire near Cunel, France, October 14, 1918. Corporal Ackley went to
Elmira about four years ago. In September, 1917, he was sent from that
city in selective service contingent. He was assigned to Co. D, 60th Infantry.
The official citation of Corporal Ackley, in which he is awarded the DISTINGUISHED
SERVICE CROSS, reads as follows; “Corporal Francis Ackley, Co. D, 60th
Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Cunel, France, October
14, 1918. After his company has suffered severe losses from an enemy machine
gun, Corporal Ackley, volunteered to silence it single-handed. Advancing
from the flank, under heavy sniping fire, he surprised the crew, killed
three gunners with his pistol and then turned the machine gun on the enemy,
covering the advance of his detachment to the position and inflicting severe
losses on hostile troops” Mrs Clarence Hancock is an aunt of Corporal Ackley
and he has many relatives throughout this section, his father Jay Ackley,
having lived on the John Ackley farm in Westfield township, where Corporal
Ackley was born. A dispatch states that Corporal Ackley died in a hospital
in France following wounds received on Oct 16. He had partially recovered
from the wounds when pneumonia set in with fatal results.- Westfield Free
Press |
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