Sidney Carroll Graves
Major, U.S. Army

Sidney Carroll Graves was born on 27 December 1893 at Fort Logan, CO, the son of William Sidney and Katherine Pauline Boyd Graves. His father, also a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Class of 1888, retired from the Army as a Major General.

Sidney Graves was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy and entered with the Class of 1915. Very personable, easy to like, and capable of forging enduring friendships, his fellow cadets called him "Sid," a name that stayed with him throughout his life. Upon graduation in 1915, Sid was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry in the U.S. Army.

In 1916, Second Lieutenant Graves was serving with the 16th Infantry Regiment in an expedition into Mexico. Members of his Regiment recalled that after a long day’s tiring march, he would forage the surrounding countryside in search of food for his unit. The stamina which enabled him to engage in those pre-meal expeditions was humorously attributed to his long experience as an "area bird” during his years at the Academy. (It was unofficially reported that at graduation he still owed the Cadet Corps 90-hours of disciplinary tours that he did not walk!)

As a company commander in World War I in 1917, Sid went to France with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), and was almost immediately committed to combat. He personally led the first American raid against the German lines, an act which early attested to the intrepidity and gallantry in action which eventually earned him two awards of the Distinguished Service Cross.

Following his return to the U.S., Major Graves chafed under the inactive routine of barrack soldiering and sought a wider field of action. He finally won an assignment to the staff of the commanding general of the Siberian Expedition, serving in that capacity with conspicuous success. But good things have a habit of coming to an end and Sid returned to the passivity of peacetime duty. This was too much for his restless spirit and dissatisfaction finally overcame him. So, in 1920 he tendered his resignation as a Major of Infantry and entered civilian life.

In his post-military life, Graves entered the busy fields of real estate and insurance, vocations in which his energy and talents suited him well.

Medals and Awards

Distinguished Service Cross with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Mexican Border Service Medal
World War I Victory Medal

Foreign Medals and Awards

British Distinguished Service Order
French Croix de guerre (2 Awards)
Serbian Order of the White Eagle with Swords

Death and Burial

Major Sidney Carroll Graves died on 6 September 1974 in Washington, DC. He is buried at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery in West Point, Orange County, NY, in Section XII, Row J, Site 389.

[Information for this bio was excerpted from a memorial to Sid Graves from E.H., Class of 1915, USMA, at http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/5388/]