Alfred William Leach, Private First Class of the 6th Field Artillery, First Division was the oldest son of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Leach. He was born in Olympia on March 18, 1897 and attended school in Olympia until he entered military service on May 10, 1917. Private Leach landed in France on August 13, 1917 as part of the 6th Field Artillery and his battery fired the first shots of World War I in October 1917. Within the year, on August 7, 1918, he lost his life in the battle of the Argonne Woods and was buried in the great American Cemetery in Meuse-Argonne with 15,000 of his comrades.
