Title: Mark V. Brennan Collection, 1916-1921
Arrangement
The photographic prints are housed in two bound albums and appear to be arranged by size and topic.
Abstract
Mark Vincent Brennan (b. ca. 1886) was an American Field Service (AFS) ambulance driver during World War I. The collection contains two photographic albums, a piece of silk with the Indian Head logo of Section Sanitaire [Etat-] Unis (SSU) 1, orders, citations, a poem, German propaganda distributed to American soldiers, and various other documents.
Administrative/Biographical History
Mark Vincent Brennan (b. ca. 1886) was an American Field Service (AFS) ambulance driver during World War I. Originally from Newark, Jew Jersey, he attended Duquesne University and then worked as a clerk. He joined AFS in November 1916 at age 30 and served with Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 10 in Salonika from December 1916 until May 1917 and with SSU 1 from August through September 1917. After the United States of America entered the war in 1917, the American Field Service ceased to exist as an independent entity, and consequently Brennan enlisted with the U.S. Army Ambulance Service. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre in August 1918 for evacuating the wounded for twenty-six hours without stopping under heavy bombardment in May of that year, and in 1921 he was awarded the Silver Star for similar actions in April of 1918.
