Paul A. Chase participant of World War I
Early life
Paul Addison Chase was born in Whitingham, Vermont on November 13, 1895, the son of attorney Charles Sumner Chase and Carrie (Brigham) Chase.  His siblings included Harrie B. Chase, who served on the Vermont Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Chase was raised in Brattleboro, and he graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1914.  Chase attended Amherst College as a member of the class of 1918, and left during his junior year to join the United States Army for World War I.World War I
First assigned to the 151st Depot Brigade at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, after completing his initial training Chase was assigned to the 304th Infantry Regiment a subordinate command of the 76th Division.  By September 1918, Chase was attending the signal school at the 1st Depot Division in France, where he was trained to lay telephone cable and install and operate field telephones and switchboards.  Subsequently assigned to the headquarters of the 148th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 37th Division, he took part in combat during October and November, including the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and fighting around Avocourt during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.Chase remained in Europe for post-war occupation duty, and was promoted to corporal in December 1918.  He returned to the United States in April 1919, and was discharged at Camp Devens.  After the war, he took part in organizing the American Legion in Vermont, and was the state organization's first finance officer.Following his discharge from the Army, Chase joined the Vermont National Guard's 43rd Infantry Division.  He was promoted to sergeant, and served until being discharged in 1923.