Finding Aid to the Guy Alexander Dirom Papers

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
GUY ALEXANDER DIROM (1896-1985) PAPERS
The collection consists of vouchers (1917-1919) paid by Lt. Guy Alexander
DIROM, of Lynchburg, Virginia, a member of Company A, 317th Infantry, during
training at Camp Lee, Virginia, and on active duty in France during World War I. Also
included are a collection of correspondence, written mainly to his mother, Mrs. Robert A.
Dirom of Lynchburg, during his tour of duty in France (1916–1918), a collection of
souvenir postcards and photographs, and military manuals.
BOX 1

1-1 Vouchers 1-28, Sep-Oct 1917
1-2 Vouchers 1-30, Nov 1917
1-3 Vouchers 1-24, Dec 1917
1-4 Vouchers 1-25, Jan 1918
1-5 Vouchers 1-30, Feb 1918
1-6 Vouchers 1-21, Mar 1918
1-7 Vouchers 1-50, Apr 1918
1-8 Vouchers 1-99, May 1918
1-9 Vouchers Jun-Dec 1918
1–10 Vouchers Jan-Jun 1919
1–11 Miscellaneous Receipt Vouchers (Calais, France)
1-12 Miscellaneous Receipt Books, Bank Books, Notes

BOX 2

2–1 Diary, 1918
2–2 Correspondence (Sep 1916, Jan–Mar 1918)
2–3 Correspondence (May–Jun 1918)
2–4 Correspondence (Jul 1918)
2–5 Correspondence (Aug–Sep 1918)
2–6 Correspondence (Oct–Nov 1918)
2–7 Correspondence (Dec 1918–Jan 1919)
2–8 Correspondence (Feb–May 1919, Dec 1920)
2–9 Miscellaneous notes
2–10 Passenger list (May 1919)
2–11 Service record and photograph (officers at camp)
2–12 Souvenir postcards and photographs

BOX 3

3–1 Regulations of the Army of the United States, 1913
(Corrected to April 15, 1917)
3–2 A Manual for Courts–Martial (1917)
3–3 Anecdotes, Fun and Jokes by the A.E.F. in France (1920); Army, Navy,
(Continued)
MS1534

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
GUY ALEXANDER DIROM (1896-1985) PAPERS, Cont'd.
BOX 3

3–3 Marine Corps Insignia (1943); Visual Signaling (1916); Method of
Instructing Skirmishers and Small Groups of Skirmisher (1917)
3–4 Field Entrenchments (1917); Field Service Pocket Book (1917); Field
Service Regulations (1914, corrected to 1916)
3–5 Edley Craighill, History of the 317th Infantry
3–6 Manual of the Chief of Platoon of Infantry (1918)
3–7 Night Movements (1914)
3–8 Notes on the Construction and Equipment of Trenches (1917)

MS1534

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
GUY ALEXANDER DIROM (1896-1985)
Guy Alexander DIROM, son of Robert Alexander DIROM and Elizabeth Payne
JACKSON, was born 28 May 1896, in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was graduated from
high school in Lynchburg and was a private in the "Musketeers", a military unit
organized in Lynchburg in September 1915. During World War I, the "Musketeers" were
called into active duty and DIROM became a First Lieutenant in Company A, 317th
Infantry Regiment. In the battle of Meuse-Argonne, Lt. DIROM was wounded while
leading his unit. "Duty was duty with [DIROM]; whether on the drill field or on the
firing line, [he] played the game with all [his] mind, body, and soul."
Guy Alexander DIROM married (1) 18 December 1922 Frances Scott WHITE, daughter
of Archibald Sproul WHITE and Lula JOHNSON, of Lynchburg, Virginia. He married
(2) 24 September 1969 Mrs. Rosa Kimbrough (VAUGHAN) ALLEN.
Guy A. DIROM operated a wholesale grocery business for a number of years in
Lynchburg. At his death on 29 November 1985, he was the last survivor of the
"Musketeers" and was a member of the Last Man Club. He was buried in Spring Hill
Cemetery.
[Obituary, Guy Alexander Dirom, Lynchburg News & Advance, 30 November 1985, Sect. A, p. 4 col. 2;
The Critic, E.C. Glass High School, Memorial Number, Vol. 23 No. 2 (Nov. 1922), p. 122; Lucy Kerr
Copeland, Jack Massie Hilbish, comp., "Descendants of Dabney Collier Jackson and Rosa Kimbrough
Payne" (N.p.: n.pub, 1970), p. 1, FF2253, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA; Marriage of Guy A.
Dirom and Frances Scott White, Lynchburg News, 18 December 1922, p. 9 col. 1; Obituary, Frances White
Dirom, Lynchburg News, 10 October 1967, p. 10 col. 1; Edley Craighill, The Musketeers (Lynchburg: J.P.
Bell, 1931), p. 284.]

MS1534

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(804) 846-0501
317th INFANTRY, 80th DIVISION
The 317th Infantry was organized at Camp Lee, Virginia, in August 1917, and trained
at Camp Lee until May 1918. On 25 May 1918, the regiment left for military service in
France. Sailing aboard the Mongolia, they arrived in Brest on 8 June 1918. The group
received further training with British troops until ordered to occupy front line trenches
near Arrasin in July and August. After being relieved, the regiment was held in reserve
until the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October 1918. Following the armistice on 11
November 1918, the division returned to a training area at Ancy-le-Franc until
embarkation to the United States in April 1919.
[Edley B. Craighill, "History of the Three Hundred and Seventeenth Infantry," Arthur Kyle Davis, ed.,
Virginia Military Organizations in the World War, Source Vol. V (Richmond: Virginia War History
Commission, 1927), pp. 282-303.]

MS1534

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(804) 846-0501
GUY ALEXANDER DIROM (1896-1985) PAPERS
The collection consists of vouchers (1917-1919) paid by Lt. Guy Alexander DIROM, of
Lynchburg, Virginia, a member of Company A, 317th Infantry, during training at Camp
Lee, Virginia, and on active duty in France during World War I. Also included are a
collection of correspondence, written mainly to his mother, Mrs. Robert A. Dirom of
Lynchburg, during his tour of duty in France (1916–1918), a collection of souvenir
postcards and photographs, and military manuals.
[A detailed finding guide is available with the collection.]

MS1534