Chester Anzide

Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army

Unit: Company E, 114th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: October 12, 1918

Buried at: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia — Section 18, Site 3852

Awards: Purple Heart

Chester Anzide was born Cesarino Anzideo in Italy. He came to America with his family in 1905. His family settled in Camden, NJ, and were living at 312 Division Street when Chester enlisted. Chester enrolled in Company B, 3rd New Jersey National Guard on April 18, 1917. The unit was later reorganized as the 114th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, on October 11, 1917.

The 29th Division participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October 1918. The following account from the division’s records describes the fighting on October 12, 1918, the day Chester Anzide was killed:

On October 12, 1918 the Battalion Commander, Captain William F. Ward, led the battalion in the attack upon the Bois d’Ormont, near Molleville Farm. The attack was preceded by artillery and the battalion advanced through the heaviest machine gun fire encountered during the entire Meuse-Argonne Operations. The battalion succeeded in reaching its objective but at a cost of 6 officers and 112 enlisted men killed and wounded.

Private First Class Chester Anzide was killed in action on October 12, 1918. He was survived by his brother Frederick (born Ferdinando), who later lived in Gloucester City, New Jersey.