The Gleaner Identification Medal

but the suggested rates were so high the government rejected the proposal. Instead the Bureau of War Risk Insurance was created under which the government issued four and a half million policies worth $38 billion.

Some insurance companies were deeply concerned about potential losses created by the war. Not all of them had included a “war exclusion” clause in their policies, and as the casualties mounted in France, their concern grew.

A few fraternal insurance societies, including some who had a “war exclusion” clause in their certifi cates, decided to honor their obligations. Gleaner leaders went one step further. A special assessment of 50 cents per member was levied in September 1917 to create a special fund for war death claims and to assist families with sons in the service. A second levy was called for in September of 1918 and a fi nal one in March of 1919. All claims resulting from the war were paid in full, regardless of the legal obligations of the Society.

The Gleaner Identifi cation Medal

The August 1917 edition of The Gleaner newspaper included an article written by Grant Slocum:

“Every war that was ever fought has had its nameless dead. After the roar of cannon has died away and the smoke of battle lifted from bloody elds men are seen, dead men and dying men, youths whose bodies have been shattered with the shells. In many, many cases these bodies have been left upon the eld for days. In others they are hastily tumbled into unmarked graves and none but the Creator may know the spot where they lie. The fallen ones are hastily examined for signs of identi cation; sometimes a card, a letter, a picture leaves a clue, but often there is nothing. The hero is put away, while back home the old folks sit in their terrible suspense, which mingled hope and fear always brings, waiting, waiting, until the war is closed and they may know the worst.”

The picture drawn by Slocum was not exaggerated. There were thousands of unidentifi ed casualties in each of America’s wars, so many that the memorial, The Tomb of the Unknowns, was constructed in Arlington Cemetery to bear witness to their sacrifi ce. In the Civil War, soldiers often pinned notes to their clothing before a battle as a means of identifi cation. Although some regiments’ soldiers had identifi cation medallions, the U.S. military was slow to adopt universal tags for all servicemen.

In the fall of 1917 the Gleaner organization devised a way to identify members who died in the service. A medal, about the size of a quarter, was cast in copper. It was worn around the neck on a silk cord. On the front was the image of the Gleaner Temple with the words “Member, Ancient Order of Gleaners.” On the reverse was the statement “In the event of Injury, Capture or Death Please Send This Coin to the Ancient Order of Gleaners, Woodward-Palmer Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.” The medals were numbered in sequence with the number and name of the holder recorded in a separate register.

By November 1917, 402 Gleaner members had been drafted. The number increased to 683 by March of 1918, and eventually reached 2,106. The fi rst casualty was William A. Droogs of Calfi n Arbor, a soldier in Company F, 6th Battalion of the 20th Engineers. He was aboard the Tuscania, a troopship sunk by a U-boat Feb. 5, 1918, off the north coast of Ireland.

The Gleaner medal was one of the fi rst U.S. eff orts made to systematically identify soldiers killed or wounded on the battlefi eld. The U.S. Army had eventually recognized the problem and began issuing disc-shaped identifi cation tags in 1906. The Army tags were issued free to enlisted men but offi cers had to purchase theirs. About the size of a half dollar, they were not very popular and many did not wear them since it was not required. Soldiers shipped overseas in World War I called the Army tags “mermaid calling cards.”

In all, 2,079,880 young Americans were transported overseas in 1917 and 1918. More than 125,000 died in combat, while many others were wounded or died of disease. One report from the Gleaner medical director listed 33 members who died from a variety of diseases including appendicitis, pneumonia and typhoid fever. Infl uenza was widespread among troops in France and many died from what later became known as Spanish Flu.

The little Gleaner medals began to come back to the Temple soon after the fi rst soldier left for France. Among them were number 544, Walter J. Taylor, found dead on the battlefi eld at Ciegnes, France; and number 1075, Lewis Opper, who