Died in World War I, at rank of Private

1910 census: Clay was 20 years old. No census record found.

World War I Registration Card: No 252
Name in Full: Franklin Clay Lipford
Age: 27
Address: 858 Lee Street, Danville, VA
Date of Birth: April 30, 1890
U. S. Citizen: Natural Born
Where born: Near Danville, VA, USA
Occupation: Carpenter- Cement Form Builder
Employer: Seeds & Derham
Where employed: Swedeland, PA
Dependents: None
Married: Single
Race: White
Infirmities: No
Signed: Franklin Clay Lipford
Height: Tall
Build: Medium
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Auburn
Bald: No
Registrar: J Elmer (?)
Precinct: 1, Danville, VA
Date: June 5, 1917

"Following the war, by decision of next of kin, the remains of Pvt Franklin C Lipford, 194309, were repatriated to the United States and permanently interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 18, Grave 2915, Fort Myer, Virginia."
Source: Colonel Anthony N. Corea, USAF, Director, Operations and Finance, The American Battle Monuments Commission

The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, published quarterly by the Virginia Historical Society for the year ending December 31, 1919, Volume XXVII, April 1919, No 2, Kraus Reprint Corporation, New York, 1968
Roll of Honor
Virginians Who have Died In the War For Freedom
This Roll of Honor was begun in July 1918 in this magazine.
page 133
"Franklin Clay Lipford, pr, w, W P Lipford, 862 Stake St., Danville. (Nov 4)"
Franklin Clay Lipford, Private, w= died from wounds received in action, son of W P Lipford, 862 Stokes Street (not Stake), Nov 4
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Franklin Clay Lipford, Private
Company D, 167th Infantry, (42nd Division)
died in France September 19, 1918
buried June 30, 1921, Section 18, Grave 2915
Source: Arlington National Cemetery 1-703-607-8000
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The Fresno Morning Republican, Fresno, CA, Sunday, Nov 3, 1918, Vol LIV No 126, p 25
FOR THEIR COUNTRY
Roll of those Killed or Wounded, as Announced by U S Government
Yesterday
Columns 1 and 2
Section One, Army List
DIED FROM WOUNDS
Privates
Franklin Clay Lipford, Danville, VA.
____________________
The Library of Virginia
Military Records and Resources
Database of Virginia Military Dead
WWI County Sections
Lipford, Franklin Clay, WWI, Male
Branch of Service: Army
Rank: Private
Cause of Death: Died of Wounds
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World War I, WWI, or "The Great War" (1914- 1918)
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo, Serbia. Things started to unravel after that. The United States made a formal declaration of war on April 6, 1917 against Germany. Many men in the United States volunteered for the military service soon after this declaration of war. The first United States troops arrived in France on June 27, 1917. Later, men ages were 21 - 31 were selectively drafted (conscripted) into the military starting on June 27, 1918. Secretary of War, Newton D Baker, pulled numbers out of a fishbowl. In August 1918, "the limits of the draft age were lowered from twenty-one to eighteen and raised from thirty-one to forty-five."
World War I, WWI, ended on November 11, 1918. The United States Army during WWI was composed of (from larger smaller) units: "Armies" (1st Army, 2nd Army, and 3rd Army), "Corps" (I, II, III, IV, V, VI. VII, VIII, IX, and X), and "Divisions" and there was also the Tank Corps, etc.
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Rainbow Division Veterans Memorial Foundation, Inc.
RAINBOW DIVISION -- WORLD WAR I
The 42nd Rainbow Division was formed in August 1917 of National Guard units from 26 states and the District of Columbia. After Chief of Staff Major Douglas MacArthur remarked that the Division "would stretch over the whole country like a rainbow," the coalesced national guard units were christened Rainbow Division. As the war progressed Douglas MacArthur was promoted to commander of the 84th Brigade and finally to commander of the Rainbow Division. Its four infantry regiments were respectively
165th (formerly New York's 69th);
166th (formerly Ohio's 4th);
167th (formerly Alabama's 4th); and
168th (formerly Iowa's 3rd)
The field artillery, machine gun, ambulance, hospital, and other units originated in other states from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Division saw its first action in February 1918 fighting alongside the French. The battles continued throughout the following months and on July 14, 1918 the final German offensive was contained by the 4th French Army, in which the Rainbow Division played a prominent role at the famous Battle of the Champagne. Many bloody battles and great victories followed until the Germans were finally defeated. Battles included those in the Chateau-Thierry salient where Rainbow's poet, Joyce Kilmer was killed; St Mihiel; Verdun front and Argonne, where Rainbowmen engaged in the final battle of WW I. German occupation duty followed.
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Re: Company D, 167th Infantry
Posted by: Stephen Harris Date: May 24, 2005 at 06:00:21
The 167th Infantry was part of the Eighty-fourth Brigade of the 42nd Rainbow Division. The division saw some of the toughest fighting in WWI, from the Luneville sector, through the defense at Champagne, the bloody attack across the Ourcq River, Chateau-Thierry, St Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. I believe it was at St Mihiel, after the battle was over and the division held the line before being shifted to the Meuse-Argonne offensive, that your relative was killed.
You may want to read "Alabama's Own in France" by William H Amerine, Published by Eaton & Gettinger, 1919.
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A letter from the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, Missouri, dated June 20, 2005, stated that there was no record for Franklin Clay Lipford in their files. A fire on July 12, 1973 destroyed Army military personnel records for the period 1912 through 1959, and records of the Air Force personnel, records with surnames Hubbard through Z for the period 1947 throough 1963. There are alternate records sources, and it was suggested that we notify the nearest Veterans' Administration office. Called and told there were no records on Franklin Clay Lipford, and since he died during the war, the only source would have been the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.