Elizabeth Pulk of Dixfield, George’s great-niece provided the following unidentified newspaper account:
"McKelvey's outfit, Company L of the 320th Infantry, was making an advance in the Argonne Forest on October 11, 1918, exactly one month before the Armistice. The Germans were beginning to crack up, but they were still putting up a tough defensive battle as they retreated. Everything was going well for George until a German machine-gun sniper ripped him with sixteen slugs while he was trying to dodge across an open clearing.
“From then on, he was unable to walk and totally unable to use his left arm. A corporal with his right wrist shot off carried, rolled, and dragged him to a First Aid Station behind the lines. There was rain, they ploughed through mud, and just before they got there, the Boche laid down a gas barrage. The two of them, with only two usable hands between them, managed to get gas masks adjusted on each other.
“McKelvey was then carried to a sector hospital to have some more patching done. The hospital was filled to the gills, and they had to lay him on the soggy ground outside with the other wounded soldiers. Five minutes after his turn came and he was moved into the hospital, a German shrapnel shell burst over the others still remaining in the courtyard.
“On February 2, 1920, after staying in hospitals in France and at Camp Meade, McKelvey arrived at his home in Johnetta, Pennsylvania. His family still thought he was dead and had a certificate from the War Department to prove it. They had even conducted funeral services at the family cemetery plot. But it was a gala day for Johnetta after they got over the shock of seeing a dead man walking.
“The Overseas Medal and the Order of the Purple Heart were awarded to George. He received them from Washington through the mail after the war."
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