On Veterans Day, a World War I veteran laid to rest in 1933 in Bath finally received a tombstone and public recognition of his service.
Mark Arsenault served as a wagoner in the war, carrying supplies and ammunition to the front lines for Allied troops. On Monday, members of American Legion Post 21 dedicated the new tombstone 91 years after Arsenault was laid to rest.
Arsenault was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery without a dedicated grave marker. Terry Hanna, administrative assistant for Bath Cemeteries and Parks Division, noticed this over the summer and notified Peter Lebel, executive board member of Post 21, who began planning ways to correct that, securing a granite stone that was laid over Arsenault’s grade a few weeks ago.
Bath Legion member Joe Young reads dedication service for Mark Arsenault with other Bath Legion Post 21 members on Veterans Day. Paul Bagnall / The Times Record
Bath Legion Chaplain Phil Rodgers read the service at the ceremony alongside Bath Legion members Joe Young, Dolly Young, Lorna Withers, Erica Morton, Ed Morton and Scott Morton.
“We believe our strength on the field of battle [rested] on the supply lines, which nourished our armed might, laying the justice of our cause against the forces of evil,” Joe Young said during the ceremony.
According to Lebel, Arsenault was born on Prince Edward Island in 1887. Articles from the newspaper Bath Independent said Arsenault worked as an ironworker at Bath Iron Works and Texas yards during the early part of the Great War. When the United States entered World War I, Arsenault enlisted.
Arsenault survived fighting the war, despite suffering serious injuries from machine gun fire during the battle of Chateau Thierry. He was taken off the lines to a field hospital by a German soldier who he had captured before getting cut down by machine gun fire.
After returning to Bath, Arsenault would return to civilian life but was killed in 1933 by a hit-and-run motorist 4 miles outside of Ellsworth when he was 46 years old.
Arsenault’s funeral service was held at his mother’s home at 21 Maple St. in Bath.