Frank Caralunas joined the United States Army in June 1917. He died on a French battlefield on May 28, 1918, less than a year after he joined the service. Private Caralunas became one of the first residents of Schuylkill County to die in the First World War. His status as an immigrant – newspaper records claim he was born in Lithuania, Army documents record it as Italy – led a newspaper in Reading to run the story of his death under a headline: “Died as Good American.”
Caralunas is buried in Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France.
A photograph believed to be of Caralunas can be found in the collections of the Library of Congress.
Featured Image: Frank Caralunas before joining the service (Library of Congress)
Read more about World War I and the Coal Region here