Holbrook, Newberry

Born November 4, 1888, in Brooklyn, New York. Son of Francis N. and Julia Macy Holbrook. Home, New York City. Educated Morris High School, and Columbia University, Class of 1911. In business, Charles H. Phillips Chemical Company. Joined American Field Service, June 30, 1917; attached Section Thirty-two. Enlisted U. S. Army Ambulance Service, September 22, 1917. Promoted to Sergeant. Croix de Guerre. Died, February 16, 1918, of typhoid fever, Essey-les-Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. Buried Essey-les-Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. Body to be transferred to Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.

"OF all the adjectives that might be used to describe 'Berry' Holbrook, the one that most of his intimate friends and classmates would agree upon, would be 'dependable.' But he was far more than merely dependable. He was a gentleman in all that the word implies, gentle yet manly, courteous and conciliatory, but firm in standing up for what he conceived to be right. He was imbued with a high sense of duty, particularly as regards public matters which many of us so often neglect. He was ambitious, but not for himself, for no man could have been less selfish than he. It was characteristic of him to say nothing if he could not speak well of a person."

In the above quotation from one of his classmates, Newberry Holbrook stands out as a man who was eager and willing to assume his obligations to the world and to his fellows but, more important yet, who was endowed with the fineness and sensitiveness necessary to the carrying out of these obligations without in any way antagonizing those whom he would serve. Not that he shrank from making enemies if it were in a just cause -- he was always fearless where his principles were at stake --- but his were the qualities which of themselves inspire love and respect.

As an undergraduate at Columbia University and later when connected with the Phillips Chemical Company, he was known, not only for his strict application to whatever task he had at hand, but also for a breadth of vision at once practical and idealistic. It was but natural that, with the organization in June, 1917, of the ambulance unit sent over by the City Club of New York, in which he was an active member, he should have been one of the first to volunteer as a driver, and should have been the man chosen to handle the complicated financial relations between the unit and the Club.

As a driver and subsequently as sergeant in Section Thirty-two, later Six forty-four, he gave himself with an energy and courage rare even in the ranks of volunteers. One of his comrades writes: "He was probably the most popular and the best liked man in the entire section, and by his devotion to duty, his unfailing patience and kindness had endeared himself to each one of us."

For work at Verdun during the latter days of November, 1917, he was cited for the Croix de Guerre by the 37th Division of Infantry with which the Section was serving. Of the character of the work which he did the following extract from a letter written by his lieutenant is sufficient proof: "Ever since the section left Paris last August, Newberry, or 'Berry,' as he was affectionately known to all of us, has been my right hand man. He was one of the best drivers, brave, cool, and intelligent. And in our first difficult engagement he actually made more trips, and brought down more wounded than any other man in the section. Personally, I have lost a very true friend; as his commanding officer, I have lost one of my most valued assistants."

He died on February 16, 1918, at Essey-les-Nancy, of typhoid fever, having refused to leave the section and go to a hospital until but a few days before his death. He gave his life as a soldier for the cause of his country and his fellowmen, nor was his sacrifice in vain. For as one of these fellowmen who knew him well has written: " In his death he still lives with us in his quiet, devoted, and unassuming friendship. His dignity and his quality of ready and faithful service to all he held dear will ever be an inspiration that we may the better 'Carry on.' "

• Tribute from Memorial Volume of the American Field Service, 1921

Holbrook was awarded the Légion d'honneur (Chevalier degree) posthumously on November 11, 2011