September 2, 1887 (Long Island City, NY) – September 14, 1918; 31 years old
Unmarried
Last local address: 16 Grove Street, Norwalk
Entered the service on April 30, 1918
Serial number 366411
Unit: 29th Infantry Division, 113th Infantry, Company L
Born to Max Tarlov (1867-1906) and Rosa Tarlov (1869-1956). Brothers, Harry Tarlov (1894-1957), Charles (1897-1975), Louis (1903-1991), and Abraham (1899-1954). Sisters Imie (1889-?), Esther (1891-1984), Elizabeth (1892-1976), Gertrude (1896-?), and Cecelia (1904-1981).
Was employed with his brother as a tobacco dealer prior to service.
Killed In Action at Montreaux Chateau, France. The same bomb that killed Private Tarlov also wounded Private Anthony Mulvoy. Private Mulvoy died of those wounds the next day – September 15, 1918. Privates Mulvoy and Tarlov are two of the three namesakes of Mulvoy – Tarlov – Aquino Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 603 in Norwalk, Connecticut.
From an unknown newspaper date stamped October 7, 1918, and found in the archives of the Norwalk History Room and the Norwalk Library
NORWALK MEN LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES
Aime Tarlov Killed in Battle Action in France is War Report
PRIVATES FERRIS AND GAFFNEY DIE OF PNEUMONIA
Two Latter Were at Camp Meade and Remains Will Come to Norwalk
Aime Tarlov of 16 Grove Street, one of Norwalk’s best-known young men, who left in the draft army, had been killed in action according to a telegram received here by his brother Abe late Thursday afternoon. The telegram read:
“Deeply regret to inform you that Private Aime Tarlov, infantry, was killed in action on September 14,” and was signed by Adjutant General McCaine in Washington.
The news was a big blow to his brothers and relatives here and also to his many friends who at first were inclined to doubt the story as it spread rapidly throughout the city.
Aime Tarlov, aged 31, was a member of Company L, 113th Infantry, and had been in France for about three months, the last month and a half of which he had been either near or on the firing line. He left this city in the company of a number of other draftees on May 1 for Fort Slocum. After he had been there for a few days he was transferred to Camp McClellan, Anniston, Alabama, where he was placed in the company of which he was a member at the time of his death. He went to France after a short training and his relatives here had no word from him for the past seven weeks. In all of his letters, he wrote enthusiastically about the life of a soldier and advised his many friends to whom he wrote to “get into khaki” as soon as possible for “it’s the only clothes to wear nowadays.”
He was a member of Norwalk Lodge No. 769, B.P.O.E. Putnam Hose Company, Uncas Tribe No. 26, I.O.R.M., and one of the proprietors of Tarlov Brothers, cigar and tobacco store in the Mahackemo block in South Norwalk. His brother Harry with whom he was in partnership is now in service, being at a non-commissioned officers school, Section C, Company B, Camp Greenleafe, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.
He is survived by a mother, Mrs. Rose Taylor, and five brothers, Harry who is mentioned above, Louis, Charles, Isadore, and Abe, all of this city, and four sisters, the Misses Elizabeth, Gertrude, Esther, and Cecelia also all of this city.
From The Norwalk Hour October 8, 1918
NORWALK, Oct 7 (Special) – Word has been received by his parents here that Private Aime Tarlov was killed in action with Company L, 113th Infantry, on September 14. No further information has been received, and until the fateful message from the adjutant general’s office arrived, it was not known that Tarlov’s regiment had been in battle recently. Private Tarlov, who before he entered Uncle Sam’s service was a partner in a prosperous cigar business here with his brother, Henry Tarlov, now also in the Army at Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, was selected for service and left on May 1 for Fort Slocum. From there he went to Camp McLellan, Alabama, and arrived overseas in June. He was 31 years old, and a member of Norwalk Lodge, Elks, Uncas Tribe, Red Men, and Putnam Hose Company.
Aime’s mother made the pilgrimage to France as part of the Gold Star Mothers and Widows program in 1929.
In the aftermath of World War I, wives became widows, and mothers outlived their sons. More than 100,000 Americans died during the Great War, creating suffering and pain for those family members they left behind. Through the Gold Star pilgrimages of 1930 to 1933, the U.S. government specifically recognized the sacrifices of these mothers and widows who chose burial in an overseas American military cemetery for their sons or husbands.
As the war raged, the Gold Star became a symbol for mourning the fallen. Families who lost a loved one in the service hung a Gold Star in their windows. Their female relatives referred to themselves as Gold Star mothers and widows, and they created several national organizations for collective mourning and support. These groups lobbied Congress for an official government-funded pilgrimage to visit their loved ones’ graves, which the government authorized on March 2, 1929.
All mothers and un-remarried widows of someone buried or memorialized at an ABMC cemetery received an invitation. Over the course of the program, 6,654 women participated. These pilgrims represented the diversity of the American army in World War I. However, in keeping with the Jim Crow-Era segregation of the military at the time, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps racially segregated the pilgrimages. African-American women traveled in separate groups, a decision that created much controversy. While many objected, 168 African-American women still participated as pilgrims.
Even after the crash of the stock market in October 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, the federal government funded the entire pilgrimage. The Quartermaster Corps meticulously organized the program and cared for the mothers and widows. They arranged every detail of the journey and monitored the pilgrims’ physical and emotional health. Escorted by Army officers and nurses, the pilgrims traveled to many of the major tourist sites in the countries they visited, including the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where they laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They subsequently traveled to the cemeteries and visited the battlefields and memorials in addition to the graves of their loved ones.
Cemetery staff decorated the graves with the flags of the U.S. and the host country. They provided a chair for the pilgrim to sit next to the headstone and reflect. Each pilgrim received a photograph of herself at the tombstone, where she also laid a memorial wreath. These personal touches added to the dignity of the pilgrimages and demonstrated the government’s commitment to the cemeteries.
The Gold Star pilgrimages honored these women’s sacrifices and eased their grief. After her 1930 pilgrimage to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Mrs. O.B. Johnson of Iowa told the Army how “the Government is certainly doing the right and square thing by the Gold Star Mothers. We were treated with respect and deference…on the whole a wonderful trip.” Many pilgrims expressed their admiration for the ABMC cemeteries. Mrs. Ettie M. Brown and Mrs. George Ingersoll visited the Saint-Mihiel American Cemetery and declared that “the cemetery is kept beautifully and we feel our sons have a lovely resting place.”
Through the Gold Star pilgrimages, women played a key role in the early commemorations at the ABMC cemeteries. The government recognized that these women served the nation through their losses, and acknowledged the importance of providing them with the opportunity to visit the overseas graves of their fallen family members. The ABMC mission during the Gold Star pilgrimages was the same as it is today: to maintain military cemeteries with honor so that the loved ones of the fallen can find solace in the dignified care of their eternal resting place.
Center Street was renamed Tarlov Street in his honor in 1921; it may have been a longer street before the Connecticut Turnpike was built in the 1950s
To read the entire NARA burial file, click HERE.
Private Tarlov is buried at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France; Plot F, Row 3, Grave 1.
END
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