Grave 2078, which is in the first complete row below the left ossuary, all the way on the left of the cemetery.

A standard French Military grave marker; a white cross with an inscribed centerpiece.

Soldier 2^nd Class Ivan Finney Nock was born in 1893 and was from Hartford County, Maryland.  He enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1916 and served in the 1st Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment, (1er Régiment de Marche du 2e Régiment Etranger, 1er RM 2e RE).  

Prior to the entry of the US into WWI, many US citizens joined foreign armies engaged in that war. Nock was one of 197 US citizens who volunteered to join the French Foreign Legion during WWI. Once the US entered the war, however, there was a great need for combat veterans in our not very experienced Army.  By late-December 1917, France had agreed to remove all US citizens from the ranks of the Foreign Legion and place them under the control of the US Army.  The date set for the last Foreign Legion soldiers to revert to US control was January 10, 1918.  “I would really prefer to stay in the Legion," said Nock.  "I’m pretty sure no U.S. regiment will ever be as distinguished as the Legion Etrangere. Besides, I’m beginning to think I’m a Frenchman.

As was so often the case, Nock was true to his word: he was mortally wounded after he volunteered for a trench raid that took place on January 8, 1918.  He died on January 9th—one day before he was to be forced to leave his beloved Foreign Legion.  He was the last US volunteer to die in the Foreign Legion in WWI.

The entire Legion mourned him as one of the bravest of the brave. A last citation in the Order of the Day paid homage to him as 'an excellent grenadier; grievously wounded January 8, 1918, as he rushed upon the enemy lines under a violent barrage fire. Died as a result of his wounds.'"

Nock was awarded the French Croix de Guerre  for his actions.

Source: "American Fighters in the Foreign Legion 1914-1918," by Paul Ayers Rockwell. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1930.

NOCK Ivan Fumey

1 R.M.L.E

MORT PER LA FRANCE Le  09.01.1918

Note:  Nock’s name is Ivan Finney