Pvt Nicolas Nabor Montaño
Birth: Dec 7, 1893 Trementina, New Mexico
Death: Sep 12, 1988
Nicolas Nabor Montano was the son of Nicolas and Lola Montaño. He did his basic and advanced infantry training in Ft. Riley (Kansas) and Ft. Ord (California). He served with the American Expeditionary Force assigned to the 3rd “Rock of the Marne” Division from July 1918 to August 1919. He fought and survived in the Marne Offensive of July 1918, the St Mihiel offensive of early September 1918, the Meusse Argonne Offensive of late September-November 1918. Montano ended his time in Europe with occupation duty in Munster-Mayfield Germany. He once commented about the war “Me toco pelear de puro bruto. (I go to fight out of pure stupidity).”[1]
Note that “Camp Fuston” Ft. Riley Kansas where Montaño did his basic training was a large camp which housed and trained soldiers for military duty drafted from midwestern states. Due to the cramped conditions of the camp of up to 40,000 soldiers, the spread of communicable disease was a constant threat. The 1918-1920 influenza pandemic possibly originated from the camp, being transmitted via troop transport.[2]
Notes:
[1] Info in this paragraph from Samuel Leo Gonzales, The Days of Old, self published, 1993 and
“Nicolas Montano” military and census database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 05 Apr. 2023)
[2]Info on Pandemic and Camp Fuston from “Camp Fuston” Kansaspedia accessed on 6/19/2023 at https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/camp-funston/16692
Bio Organized by E. Garcia