American Battle Graves Archive
U.S. Marine Corps seal

WWI · Battle Death Record

Allen Sumner

Captain, U.S. Marine Corps · Massachusetts

Personnel File — Core Information

Name
Allen Sumner
Entered the Service From
Massachusetts
Rank
Captain
Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Unit / Regiment
81st Company, 6th Machine Gun Battalion, 2nd Division
War
WWI
Date of Death
July 19, 1918
Awards
Croix de Guerre with Gilt Star, Silver Star
Burial / Memorial
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, Belleau, France
Grave
Plot A, Row 13, Grave 25

Their story

Captain Allen Melancthon Sumner, a Harvard graduate serving with the 81st Company, 6th Machine Gun Battalion, 2nd Division, fought at Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and the Second Battle of the Marne. He was killed instantly by a high-explosive shell fragment on July 19, 1918, during the Battle of Soissons. He received the French Croix de Guerre with Gilt Star and multiple Silver Star citations for bravery.

Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.

This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.