The Dunmore Cemetery is the final resting place of many who served their country in our nation’s conflicts in all branches of service. Block One is the final resting place of one who served in a unique manner.

Frederick Hannah, son of Attorney Hugh and Elizabeth Hindman Hannah was born April 9, 1885. Educated in Scranton schools, Hannah also attended the elite Mercersburg Academy from which he graduated in 1907. After working locally in real estate, Hannah became General Superintendent with Unity Coal and Coke in Berwinsdale, Clearfield County, PA.

Prior to the United States entering World War I, an ambulance corps of American civilian volunteers was formed in France. Many of its members were college students or those who did not meet the requirements of the United States Military. 

With the onset of World War I,  Hannah, like many others,  wanted to join France in its fight against Germany and did so before the United States officially entered the conflict. 

From June 1917 to September 1918, three draft registrations were held. Due to age restrictions Frederick Hannah was ineligible for all of them. By the time of the third draft, through a local Presbyterian church offering to pay for travel expenses, Hannah had already found his way to France. Using his own funds for travel, he joined the American Field Service in July 1917. 

Known to his comrades as “Shorty,” Hannah was a member of Section Seventeen of the Field Service. Reports from his comrades and sister who received regular letters from him, revealed him to be a man who never discussed his personal matters, never felt he was doing anything more than his duty, and no matter what conditions were, would never leave a soldier on the field. 

For his service with the Ambulance Corps, Hannah was recommended for and received the Croix de Guerre, a French military honor bestowed for bravery. 

On the evening of September 20, 1918, Frederick Hannah was killed during the German bombing at Deuxnouds-aux Bois north of St. Mihiel in France. Following his death, his body was interred at Souilly, Meuse. In July 1921, his remains were repatriated to the Hannah family plot in the Dunmore Cemetery. 

Three memorial plaques honoring Frederick Hannah’s service can be found in Scranton noting his service. His name appears on the World War I Memorial at the Memorial Grove at Nay Aug Park, on a plaque commemorating World War I veterans in the Bell Tower of Covenant Presbyterian Church, and in the lobby of Lackawanna College, formerly Scranton Central High School where Hannah attended high school.  

In addition to the local memorials, Hannah’s mother participated in the National Honor Roll Memorial Trees program sponsored by the American Forestry Association. A tree was registered in Frederick Hannah’s name commemorating his wartime service, but the location and status of that today are unknown.