PVT Santiago Alvarez

Born: 9 July, 1895, Salem, New Mexico

Death: 26 August 1932, New Mexico

PVT Santiago Alvarez was born to Feliz Alvarez and Tomasa Lovato de Alvarez in Salem, New Mexico on 9 July 1895. He had one brother, Ysidro, and one sister, Clara. When the United States entered World War I, Alvarez worked on his father’s ranch. He was Roman Catholic, single, had one year of public education, and spoke and read Spanish but did not speak English. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 25 April 1918 and was sent to Camp Funston, Kansas for training.

PVT Alvarez arrived in France on 18 June 1918 as part of H Company of the 356th Infantry, 89th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. His regiment took part in the St. Mihiel Drive, the Verdun Front, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and in fighting to force a crossing of the Meuse River at Pouilly. PVT Alvarez was listed as severely wounded after receiving shrapnel wounds on the left side of his body on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, a day that “found [the] division in complete contact with the enemy.”[i] After receiving treatment for his wounds over the course of the next five months in France, Alvarez returned to the United States. He was discharged at Camp Bowie, Texas, on 19 April 1919. 

After returning from service PVT Alvarez noted that he received $30.00 each month as compensation in addition to the back pay he had earned. He lived in a National Home for Disabled Volunteers in Los Angeles, California beginning in April 1929. PVT Alvarez died on 26 August 1932 and was interred at Ft. Bayard National Cemetery in October 1932.

Images & Documents

Notes:

Prepared by Dr. Andy Hernández, Western New Mexico University

Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Find Your Veteran

https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/SANTIAGOALVAREZ/62F8DF8

[i] George H. English, Jr., History of the 89^th Division, U.S.A.: From its Organization in 1917, though its Operations in the World War, the Occupation of Germany and Until Demobilization in 1919. (The War Society of the 89^th Division: 1920), 244, 415.

[1] “Santiago Alvarez,” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85291864/santiago-alvarez, May 7, 2023.

[2] “Santiago Alvarez,” Veterans Legacy Memorial. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/SANTIAGOALVAREZ/62F8DF8, accessed May 7, 2023.

[3] C.J. Masseck and Frank Wilbur Smith, “Routes of the 89^th Division of the AEF,” Official brief history, 89^th Division, 1919, 7. https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/wwiuh/id/6043/rec/37, accessed May 7, 2023.