On a gently sloping hill that faces the Eiffel tower lies the remains of 1,559 Americans and the names of 974 missing in action. Their home, Suresnes American Cemetery, located just 3.5 miles from the Parisian landmark.

Here we find twin sisters, Gladys and Dorothea Cromwell, who were born on the same date and who died on the same date.

The Cromwell twins were born to a wealthy New York family. Gladys was a published poet, and the twins purchased an apartment in New York City with their large inheritance when their father died in 1914.

When America entered WWI, the ladies, now 31 years of age, left their well-to-do lives and joined the Red Cross Canteen Service in January 1918 and sailed to France.

The Canteen Service was an all-volunteer organization staffed mainly by women. Some provided food, drinks, newspapers and other items to soldiers, while others worked as nurses’ aids. 

Gladys and Dorothea were first posted at Chalons-sur-Marne, a hub for logistics and medical care near the Argonne forest in France. There they worked as nurses’ aids, caring mostly for French soldiers who called them “the twin angels.”

Biographer Anne Dunne wrote: “For 8 months they worked under fire on long day and night shifts; their free time was filled with volunteer outside service; they slept in ‘caves’ or under trees….”

Around September of 1918, the sisters requested to work with American troops and were sent to an evacuation hospital in Verdun where they worked in canteen and hospital service. When the Armistice was signed, they elected to stay in country to continue helping the soldiers.

After much pleading, they were finally convinced by their brother to return home. So on January 19, 1919, Gladys and Dorothea boarded the steamship La Lorraine that departed Bordeaux for New York City.   

Believed now to have suffered from PTSD, the Cromwell twins wrote final notes in their compartments and went on deck. On a cold and blustery night, a US Army private named Jack Pemberton saw the two women on deck, and watched them climb over the rail and plunge into the icy waters below. 

“They are angels who not only do first-class work on day or night service, but also find time to visit the soldiers in the French hospitals and to befriend the little French refuges children. Everybody loves them and admires their efficiency and courage in real danger,” said Harried Rogers, the assistant head of the Red Cross canteen where the women worked.

Their bodies were recovered on March 20, 1919 and two days later, the sisters were awarded the French Croixe de Guerre medal in recognition of their gallantry.    

The United States Navy Memorial honors Dorothea and Gladys Cromwell, featured within this Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service

Richard Sherman is a award winning-author, professor, Navy Gulf War Veteran, and contributor to the Untold Stories of Service Program. Richard also joined the ranks of the Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program and actively interviews Veterans which has enriched our program by conducting extraordinary interviews which are now part of the Navy Memorial Interview Archive. To further explore the work of Richard Sherman, visit:  www.NeverHomeHeroes.com