James M. Johnson.

There isn’t much particularly unique about the World War I service of James M. Johnson.

A member of Company I of the 112th Regiment – just like many other Warren men – Johnson was born in November 1896.

While it appears he has been dead for over 50 years – a James M. Johnson who served in Company I is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery and died on November 1, 1954 – his helmet, gas mask and enlistment papers remain.

Mark Nickerson, who owns Nickerson Military & Sporting Collectibles in North Warren, has preserved in a window box in his shop and shared the story of the items with the Times Observer for this series.

According to his enlistment record, Johnson signed on with Co. I on August 2, 1916, well before America was formally inolved in the Great War.

As evidenced on his gas mask, Johnson recorded each of the major offensives in which he was involved. Serving faithfully with the 28th Division that would have included the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, as well as the Meuse-Argonne, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne and Ypres-Lys operations.

His enlistment record indicates that Johnson’s skill was as a “boilermaker,” and his physical condition when discharged was “good” and that his character was “excellent.”

While the record indicates that he was not wounded, a brief article published after the war in a local paper notes that “left recently for the U.S. Veteran’s Hospital at Aspinwall where he will undergo treatment for pulminary trouble caused by poisoned gas during the World War. Johnson has an enviable record in war service.

“He was a member of the Twenty-Eigth Division, A.E.F., and fought in all five of the major operations in which his division took part.”

He was a private first class, serving in France with Allied Expeditionary Forces from May 7, 1918 until April 30, 1919.

His discharge was filed with the Warren County Recorder’s Office on May 10, 1920.

A 1928 enlistment record shows that he signed back on with the National Guard in Company I after a similar hitch from January 1926 until November 1927, by which time he was a sergeant in the company.