Matthew Bennett Juan

Matthew Bennett Juan (April 22, 1892 – May 28, 1918), sometimes spelled Mathew, was a Native American hero of World War I who died in the Battle of Cantigny. Juan was the first Arizonan to die in the war.

Biography Juan (birth name: Matthew Bennett Juan) was part of the Pima people from the Gila River Indian Community. Juan was born in San Tan, Pinal Co., Arizona on April 22, 1892 to Joseph and Mary B. Juan. Matthew grew up in the small agricultural town of Sacaton, Arizona (also the capital of the Gila River Indian Community). He stayed there until he reached high school and left for the Sherman Institute (an Indian boarding school) in Riverside, California. Upon graduation, he joined a travelling circus.

In June 1917 Juan registered his Selective Service Card with the local draft board in Wichita Falls, Texas. Six months later he was drafted. He joined the 6th Co. 1st Infantry Training Regiment on December 11, 1917. He boarded the troopship SS Tuscania in January 1918, bound for Le Havre, France. The Tuscania was torpedoed by a German U-boat February 5, 1918 in the North Channel (U.K.), and 200 American Troops perished along with an additional 65 crew members of the Tuscania. Juan was rescued and taken to Ireland, and eventually made his way to the location of his regiment's encampment.