Basil A. Kirsch was born on 21 November 1892 in Nicktown, Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Augustus and Barbara Kirsch.  He was the fifth of Augusta and Barbara’s 11 children.  The family moved to Oregon when he was a young child.  Before the war, Basil went to an uninhabited part of southeastern Oregon and established a Homestead.  However, he was drafted into the service before he could make a farm out of it.  He was Killed in Action on 31 October 1918 in the Spitaals-Bosschen near Waregem.  His nephew, Lawrence Kirsch, served in World War II and is buried at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.

Information provided by Dale Kirsch to the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.