Marion Crandell

The first American woman to die on the Western Front during World War I was an 1889 graduate of Omaha Central High School. Marion Crandell volunteered during World War I to serve at a canteen in Sainte Menehould known as Le Foyer du Soldat ('soldiers’ fireside'), a place where weary soldiers could rest. Located in a small town near the frontline, the canteen was hit during a bombardment and killed Marion. She became the 1st U.S. woman killed in active service during the Great War. More than a century later, Marion Crandell's story went largely unnoticed until a history student at her alma mater brought her story to light.