of War-P are n t s Notified By Bureau of Navigation. Had Been in Prance Since ■ June. i . lie has had; no; assurances yet, -'how ever, that the Government will be able to do this at an'early date. The au thorities said that the 'purpose .was to bring all bodies to this country but they, might jnOt be able to do so until tne close of the war.:.. Mr. and Mrs. Halsted and their fam ily have been greatly prostrated over the news. They had received word from Harold under date of July 12 that he was

more »

... ocated on. the .Mediterranean somewhere in France,; was happy and as busy as he could be./ This letter -was -received on July 30.* . Harold was born in Elizabeth 24 years ago. but had practically lived here all his life.' He graduated from the Somerville High School in 1912 and matriculated at Bateses :Coll&gs that fall. Owing to ill health he was, oblig ed to give up his studies during his Freshman year. He passed the .civil service examination and entered the Somerville post office as a clerk, which position he held several months. He then entered the Davey Institute of Tree Surgery, at Kent, Ohio, and grad uated with the class of 1915. He was an expert tree surgeon and it was while working at /his profession at Birmingham, Ala., that President Wil son issued his first call for 250 avia tors. Harold, in company with one of his companions, John H. Bunt, enlisted in the 7nayal aviatiojusejash^e for a per iod of four years at Birmingham, Ala., April 1, and is credited to that State. The Birmingham Times of that date stated that they were the first two men to be accepted from the South. He went to Pensacola, Fla., for his train ing and was there about six weeks, when he. passed all his examinations and tests and was one of the first fifty naval aviators to be sent to France, landing there June 9. He was an all around athlete and was well known in. baseball and foot ball circles. He was a member of a Greek letter society and of the Young People's Temperance Society. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church. Being of a genial disposi tion he always had a smile and a cheery word for everyone and was highly respected by a large circle of friends. Besides his parents he leaves four sisters and a brother , Mrs. Harry L. Mettler, of Arlington, Mass//Mrs. Ed ward A. Weeks, of Brooklyn, Misses We are writing you today on behalf of the 1st Aeronautic Detachment of the United States Navy to express to you our sympathy in your recent bereavement and to tell you of the sorrow which we have felt at the passing of our comrade and companion, Quartermaster Harold Norman Halstead, In our detachment, where we cherish for our comrades a sincere affection based upon months of life in common, during which we have had full opportunity to estimate truly his endurance, Quartermaster Halstead was regarded with peculiar esteem for his modesty, his disposition, his obligingness Harold Halstead, we who knew you, worked with you, played with you, ate with you, slept with you, we who took pleasure in your company, in your modesty, in your gentle manner, in your devotion and in your youth, we think of your sacrifice, our breath comes quicker, our eyes grow dimmer** we pass-better and stronger men. To the dear ones he has left in his own land, in New Jersey, to his grief stricken parents, our respect and our expressions of sorrow are most sincere and heartfelt* 2 We laid him away with military honors in the little cemetery of Saint Mandrier, on the mountainside where the sighing pine trees overlook the beautiful harbor of Toulon* "Obscurely sacrificed, his nameless tomb Bare of the sculptor's art, the poet's lines, Summer shall flush with poppy-fields in bloom, And Autumn yellow with maturing vines*" Very sincerely yours,