"We came home in Army uniforms. We couldn't wear the American Marine uniform over there; it was too much like the color of the German uniform." (Audio Interview, 1:20:23)

Arthur Roland Keller

Arthur Keller, Sr., WWI USMC War: World War I, 1914-1920 Branch: Marine Corps Unit: Company A, 1st Machine Gun Training Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment; 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment Service Location: Parris Island, South Carolina (boot camp); Meuse-Argonne, Toulon-Troyon, Chateau-Thierry, Soissons, Marbache, St. Michiel, Blanc Mont, Verdun, France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Germany Rank: Corporal Place of Birth: Jefferson County, IA

Arthur Keller enlisted in the Marines at the age of 19 during a trip to Chicago from his home in Fairfield, Iowa. At that time, the spring of 1918, the U.S. was starting to send over replacement troops to replenish their losses. Keller, who was interviewed by his daughter in 1974, offers a vivid portrait of life in the trenches, dealing with relentless German shelling and just as persistent body lice. Though he considered the Marines the best disciplined of the services, Keller acknowledges the spirit of cooperation among all those serving. After the Armistice, Keller and a comrade spent six months of the Occupation living with a German family, forging an unlikely bond that prompted a tearful farewell in July 1919.