A very proud Doughboy, and recent college graduate, armed with a brand new Enfield M1917 30.06 rifle and ready to go “Over There.”
The back of this photo was signed “Forrest G. Johnson, Yours for Democracy.”
Forest Griffin Johnson, Student and World War I Veteran, Storer College, Harpers Ferry, W. Va https://storercollege.lib.wvu.edu/catalog/wvulibraries:26925
Via Harpers Ferry National Historical Park:
Forrest Griffin Johnson was born in Bolivar, WV on May 5, 1895. He attended Storer College and graduated in 1917. He listed farmer as his occupation on his WWI draft registration card. He listed his employer as Standard Lime & Stone Co. of Millville, WV on his WWII draft registration card. His wife Rosella R. Johnson submitted an application for an upright military marble headstone on July 21, 1956, which was the day after Forrest’s death. He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Bolivar, WV.
107 Storer College grads reportedly served in the Great War.
The historically black college was in operation from 1865 to 1955. The defunct college’s former campus and buildings were acquired by the National Park Service.