Memorial Day is more than just a long weekend for backyard barbecues or time to squeeze in another round of golf. It is a solemn day of remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. The story of Lieutenant William Boulton Dixon offers a poignant reminder of the bravery and selflessness exhibited by countless American soldiers.

Dixon, whose name is inscribed on the Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy World War Memorial at the intersection of Germantown Ave. and Mermaid Lane, is one who “gave all” for our country.  It is easy to overlook the significance of these memorials and the stories they tell. However, remembering and honoring these heroes is crucial. It connects us to our past, instills a sense of gratitude, and reminds us of the values and freedoms we often take for granted.

Over the past two years, using my grandfather’s WWI diary as a travel guide, my wife and I gained a special appreciation of the sacrifices made in France by Mr. Dixon, my grandfather, and hundreds of thousands more. Only by traveling the countryside, visiting villages, museums, war memorials, and cemeteries can one truly grasp what the Americans accomplished in France in 1918.  

During our trips, we explored the Argonne Forest where the Lost Battalion suffered 70% casualties. We hiked through Belleau Wood — site of a major 1918 battle, visited churches where my grandfather attended Mass, and stayed in a 16th-century castle that was his division’s headquarters (and is now a four-star hotel).     

In Ypres, we visited the Menin Gate. Every evening at the Menin Gate, the Last Post Association holds a daily tribute to the fallen from the Great War. There is a wreath-laying ceremony and at 8 p.m., a lone bugler sounds the Last Post (akin to Taps in the U.S.) before hundreds who stand silently choking back tears. 

We visited WWI German, French, Commonwealth, and American cemeteries. The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery holds 14,246 known graves. Twenty-one pairs of brothers are buried there. In the visitor center, we viewed records from the 1930-1933 “Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimage,” reading the names of Gold Star Mothers from Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties who visited their fallen sons’ graves. Outside Verdun, we traveled to the St. Mihiel American Cemetery to visit Dixon’s grave.

Bo Dixon graduated from Princeton University in 1915 and started working in Philadelphia. He married Emily Markoe Thayer in 1916 and, that year, they welcomed a daughter, Alice.    

In April 1917, the U.S. entered the war, which started three years earlier. The Allies and Germans were fighting a grueling battle of trench warfare defined by mud, artillery shells, no-man’s land, barbed wire, and poison gas. Millions had died.

In 1917, Dixon joined the Army and received his commission that November. After training in various camps stateside, he was appointed aide to General Richmond Davis of the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade.   In August 1918, he and Davis left for France and transferred to the 151st Field Artillery Brigade. On October 11, Bo headed to the front in advance of the brigade.

On October 17, 1918, less than a month before the end of the war in the vicinity of Thiaucourt, France,  Dixon and two other soldiers were killed by a direct hit from an enemy shell. He was buried there, near his comrades. 

After the war, those buried in these temporary graves were reinterred. The next of kin determined final resting places, either in the U.S. or in one of the eight permanent military cemeteries established in France and Belgium. Dixon’s remains rest among over 4,000 others who gave all. 

Grandfather wrote in his diary about heavy machine-gun fire, close calls, a hospital stay after being gassed, and enemy shells coming through the roof. But he survived. He and many others were greeted with cries of appreciation from French and Belgian citizens after the cessation of hostilities. Within 18 months of entering the war, these soldiers’ sacrifices brought an end to combat that claimed the lives of over 10 million people.