“By September, 1918, the overwork was beginning to show on the men, and this, along with bad drinking water, put a large number of our own men in the hospital. … It was at this time that the unit lost its first man, Sam Parker, who died the evening of September 7, just as taps was sounded. He was run down from overwork and contracted diphtheria.” (The History of Base Hospital Fifty, 1922, pg. 69.)Private Samuel Nichols Parker served with Base Hospital 50 near Mesves-Bulcy and is buried at St. Mihiel American Cemetery in France. (bit.ly/uw_parker)
Samuel was finally accepted for service with the base hospital unit after repeated attempts to enter the army. He was a member of the Post-Intelligencer editorial staff and a reporter at the Olympia Recorder prior to that. Samuel, Class of 1919, was a member of Pi Tau Upsilon Fraternity at the University of Washington, writer for The Daily and a member of Sigma Delta Chi, an honorary journalism fraternity. Samuel enlisted early in the summer of 1918 traveling to Camp Merritt, New Jersey, for training and then departing on July 14, 1918, for action overseas under the command of Major Eagleson. Born in Illinois, Samuel was the only child of Sarah E. Nichols and John W. Parker.