CAPTAIN EARL ARTHUR SHELTERS
1ST CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES
7TH APRIL 1917 AGE 21
BURIED: LA CHAUDIERE MILITARY CEMETERY, VIMY, FRANCE
Earl Arthur Shelters was an American citizen from Clinton County, New York who joined the Canadian Mounted Rifles to fight for Britain and her Allies at a time when America was still insisting on a position of strict neutrality. His attestation papers do not specify his place of birth, probably on purpose since joining a foreign army would endanger his American citizenship. He was killed in action at Vimy Ridge on 7 April 1917, the day after America entered the war on the side of the Allies.
And why did Earl Arthur Shelters enlist in an army of the British Empire? His father gives the answer on his headstone inscription:
"In his own words
To fight for freedom"