Paul Joseph Schmucker (1895-1919)

The son of Joseph S. Schucker, a German immigrant, and Margaret Ellen Sullivan Schmucker, Paul Schmucker was born in Pittsburgh on Apr. 26, 1895. Joseph supported the family by working as a plumber. Paul was an only child.
In 1900, the family lived on Liberty Avenue with a grandmother and an aunt. They later moved to 242 Mathilda St., where they had a live-in servant and two boarders.
As a high school student, Schmucker excelled at track and field—he lettered in the sport in 1913—and was popular with his classmates. “While at Peabody High School,” the Post-Gazette reported in 1919, “Schmucker was a member of the track team which held the interscholastic relay championship for three years. He was a quiet and unassuming lad and had a legion of friends, especially among the athletes of this city.”
After graduation, Schmucker continued his studies at Carnegie Tech (later Carnegie Mellon University).
Schmucker’s World War I Draft Registration Card describes him as having a medium build and height, with light hair and blue eyes. By this time, Schmucker was working as an electrician at Westinghouse. His residence continued to be the family home on Mathilda Street.
In October 1917, Schmucker was sent to Camp Lee (now Fort Gregg-Adams) near Petersburg, Virginia for training. He was inducted into Company E of the 320th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division on Oct. 3. He was promoted to Private First Class on Apr. 20, 1918.
The 320th sailed for France on May 18. Less than a month later, on June 13, Schmucker was promoted to Corporal.
Schmucker fought at St. Mihiel in September, and in the Meuse-Argonne in October and November. According to an article describing his military exploits, “He was in the thickest of the fighting around the Argonne Forest section and the Meuse River and had been over the top three times and miraculously escaped injury. He was in the Argonne battle for 18 successive days.”
After surviving gun and mortar fire, Schmucker succumbed to a fatal illness on Jan. 17, 1919. While visiting a service hut maintained by the Knights of Columbus, a priest in attendance noticed that Schmucker appeared to be seriously ill. Schmucker was immediately sent to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with the bronchial pneumonia that took his life.
Paul Joseph Schmucker is buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, Departement de l'Aisne, Picardie, France. According to a letter later sent to Schmucker’s father, “the young soldier was buried with full military honors, all the staff officers attending the funeral, accompanied by a band.”