PETER W. EBBERT

Branch of Service: Army

Rank: Captain

Honors Earned: Distinguished Service Cross

Service years: 1916-1918

Honors earned: Purple Heart

Glen Rock: Lived in Glen Rock on Doremus Ave

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Peter Ebbert was born in New York City in 1895.  His parents moved to Doremus Ave in Glen Rock, NJ and Peter Ebbert volunteered for the US Army when President Wilson sent troops to Mexico to chase Pancho Villa in 1916.  His regiment was called to duty again while he was in his third year as a student at Stephens Institute of Engineering in 1917. When he was sent to officers' training school in Leavenworth Kansas.  Ebbert returned to Ridgewood quickly in 1918 during his training to marry Marion Bradicich at Mount Carmel Church in front of over 100 members of the church.  Then he was sent to the trenches of France in the "War to End All Wars." Peter Ebbert was the first Glen Rocker to be lost in that war.  He left behind a young wife, Marion, who was pregnant with his daughter, Catherine.

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Catherine, who was born after her father's death, would have the honor of unveiling the Honor Roll plaque on the Rock in 1921.

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Captain Ebbert was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on the day he was killed for "extraordinary heroism in action at Ville Savoye, France, August 7, 1918. Capt. Ebbert, acting as battalion supply officer, conducted numerous details of food and ammunition through the heavy enemy artillery barrage. Later in the day he volunteered for observation duty and was posted in a prominent tower, where a direct artillery hit killed him."

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Catherine and her mother, Marion, stayed in Glen Rock. Marion eventually remarried and there are a few great-grandchildren still living in town today. Actor Claire Danes is the granddaughter of Catherine Ebbert. The story of Catherine, Marion, and Peter Ebbert was featured on Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s TV show "Finding Your Roots." The episode is linked here.

 

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Born: 1895, New York, New York

Died: 1918 Ville Savoye, France