On September 4, 1912 Albert (born Alyosius) Cassidy married Marie James after they had met at Fort Snelling while Al played for the Army's baseball team and Marie had attended a game with her sister Estelle. Honeymoon baby John Joseph (nicknamed Jack) was born EXACTLY 9 months later on June 7, 1913. Followed by a daughter named Estelle (after her sister). In 1916 Al was recruited to New Mexico to track down and catch the infamous Poncho Villa led by General John Joseph Pershing. Below are pictures of Al and Jack in New Mexico. Marie brought Estelle and Jack to visit their dad in May or June of 1916 while he was stationed there. We believe their was some romance involved because along came another son Albert Casper born on March 4, 1917 (Uncle Al is now 97 years old and lives in California. He served in World War II).
Due to political pressures by both the US and Mexico, the hunt for Villa was given up and was quickly followed by another summoning from General Pershing to Paris, France to fight the German's resulting in the Armistice at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. American preparation for involvement in the war and arrival of troops took quite a long time. As you can see below there was some leisure time which of course included baseball. See the picture titled "Cassidy at the Bat in Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France, July of 1917. The date cannot be correct. It must be 1919. Al was not shipped off to France until September 1918. Following you will see an article and obituary for Al that indicates that Al carried the ultimatum papers to end World War I. Just click on the pictures and documents to enlarge them.
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