Wilson Dent, son of Frank and Sadie Dent, pictured above in his WWI uniform, is mentioned in the following article submitted by Sandra Broudou in 2005 from a Lennox, South Dakota paper written twenty-seven years later (during the Second World War):
MEMBERS OF ORIGINAL 147TH FIELD ARTILLERY (picture this article refers to below is not available) The above members of the U.S. Army were originally all members of the 147th Field Artillery, the South Dakota National Guard Unit. Shortly after their induction, the group was split up and assigned to various other battalions, with the exception of two Lennox boys. The picture was taken at Camp Green, Charlotte, N.C. in November, 1917.
Leaving from Canton on July 15, 1917, these men were among the first from Lennox to enlist, following the Declaration of War on April 6. Some were sent to Redfield for training, a few remained in Canton for a short time. All these boys went overseas.
Reading from left to right, back row is JOE Q. MILLER, now manager of the local Market Basket. He remained with the 147th and reached the front lines in France. Others are WM. BROCKMAN, local resident; JOHN NEEMAN of LaCrosse, Wisc; ART MORTENSON of Canton, deceased; (party standing behind him is unidentified); CARL BROCKMAN, foreman Great Northern section crew; and GLENN HANSON, deceased. In the front row are ERNIE EVERETT, employee of the local Tavern; WILSON DENT, Forestburg; JOHN WEIBEL, deceased; and WM. COLLINS, local resident.
Wm. Collins and Ernie Everett were transferred to the 41st Division, 116 Supply Train, and landed at Brest, France on De. 27, 1917. Others sailing later, arrived at Liverpool, England, Jan. 5, 1918. They landed at LeHavre, France, about a week later.
Wilson Dent, who also served in the Army during the Mexican border conflict, was transferred to a tank outfit. Glenn Hanson was a member of Pershing's band. Several were in supply; John Wiebel also played in the band. Going through files of the Lennox Independent for 1917 and 1918 we find many letters written by the local boys who went to France. Not so different were their contents than those we are publishing now, written by boys who are fighting on the same soil, twenty-seven years later.