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Show Amemoan LEGION iCopy (or ThUi Department Hupullnrt bj i hp American I k t f j n Nwh Service.) WAR ROBS THREE OF MEMORY Tr;o Among Most Unusual Cases on Record at Voteran's Bureau in Washington. Three men who have lost themselves them-selves and whose memory dues not extend back to the war where they received Injury, are among the most unusual easel on record ut the Vet-elans' Vet-elans' bureau in Washington, D. C, among the long list of war victims. The American Legion Is endeavoring to assist the unfortunate ex-service men in llinling their relatives. I lay warn Thompson at least that Is what he is now called Is one of the most peculiar cases, lie lias for gotten who he Is. In his head is an ugly shrapnel wound. His meinorj goes back to January 2'j. i ;lhj, when he arrived at a hotel in Denver, with n bill In his pocket from one of the most expensive hotels In Colorado Springs, His memory, he now believes, lapsed somewhere, either far back In Rrance or on the trip between Colorado Colo-rado Springs and Denver, Thompson remembers having had $1,200 in his pocket and access to many thousands more. In searching Washington records for some trace of the lost man, it was found that a certain Hayward Thompson Thomp-son enlisted in the Murine corps June fi, 1018, and was discharged January 0, 1918. lie had a wife and three children at Flrmington, Mo., and a mother, Mrs. Louise Thompson, nt Chicago. The man with u shrapnel wound In his head and no memory of any relatives at all, telegraphed in great eagerness to Flemlngton, Mo., anil to Chicago. He received no answer. Not so lung ago a clean-cut young man appeared at a Los Angeles hospital. hospi-tal. He wore an American Legion button. When questioned as to who he was he stated he did not know. "I think I am thirty-two years old," he said. "I am live feet, nine inches and weigh 130 pounds. My eyes are gray and I have blond hair. I believe be-lieve I was a soldier. If any one can tell me who I am, or anything about my past, please let me know." The Los Angeles post of the Legion is making mak-ing every effort to help the man find himself. A third "unidentified living" lives m 735 North Thirty-first street, Louisville. Louis-ville. He is known as Leonard Wells, to the neighborhood. His memory is hazy. He believes that he enlisted In the old First Kentucky Infantry, and with the command was transferred to a replacement detachment and sent to France. His photograph was forwarded for-warded to his company commandef, who recognized the face but did not retail a name. A machine gun oullet had pierced It Is abdomen and injured his spine. Another had injured the left shoulder cap. No compensation or insurance can be awarded to this num. the Veterans' bureau regrets, until un-til his identity can be established. France, If Is said, has six of these "unidentified" living ex-service men. Great Britain has a few. These lost souls who cannot find their memories, and who know they cannot, present a spectacle unique and pathetic. They arc lost and know It. |