Ira A. Kenyon was born in 1885 in Minden City, Michigan. Census records indicate he was living in Phillips, Wisconsin by 1900. Sometime before World War I, Kenyon enlisted with the Wisconsin National Guard, and was attached to Company A, 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment when the United States entered the war in 1917. He was later assigned to Company B, 119th Machine Gun Battalion while undergoing training at Camp MacArthur (Texas). Kenyon traveled to France when his unit was deployed in early 1918, but returned to the United States later that same year to serve as a machine gun instructor for new recruits. After the war, Kenyon returned to Phillips before moving with his wife, Harriet, to Mellen, Wisconsin. He died in 1942 and is buried at Lakeside Cemetery in Phillips.
The 119th Machine Gun Battalion was formed at Camp MacArthur (Texas) during the organization of the 32nd Division from National Guard units of Wisconsin and Michigan. The unit was primarily organized from elements of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Wisconsin National Guard Infantry Regiments, with a majority of the commanding officers coming from the 6th. Company B, 119th Machine Gun Battalion was comprised primarily of men from Company A, 6th Regiment, a unit that was organized from Price County, Wisconsin. The 119th was deployed to France in early 1918 and returned home in 1919.
