Alfred Pugh
Private, U.S. Army

Alfred Pugh was born on 17 January 1895 Everett, MA.

Pugh served in the U.S. Army during World War I after enlisting in 1917, and serving with the 77th Infantry Division. Because Pugh spoke French, he was used as an interpreter in his first days overseas, but was soon thrown into the grind of the 1918 Meuse-Argonne offensive. While in combat in the Argonne forest, he inhaled mustard gas that left him unconscious and gave him chronic laryngitis for the rest of his life.

He was a recipient of the Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor given by the French Government in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in 1998.

When he died in January 2004, he was the last living combat-wounded veteran from WWI.

Death and Burial

Alfred Pugh died on 8 January 2004 at Bay Pines, FL. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Petersburg, FL.