In August 1918, at the age of 22, Parcaut enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps. At the time, one could enlist for two years, four years, or for the duration of the war, and Parcaut chose the last option. He received basic training at Quantico, Virginia, and was assigned to Company "D," Seventh Separate Battalion. Upon completion of his training at the end of October 1918, he was shipped overseas to
England aboard the transport , a former German luxury liner which had been seized by the U.S. Government and converted for war service. Upon arrival in France, Private Parcaut was assigned to the 74th Company,
6th Marine Regiment, 4th Brigade,
2nd Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Forces, likely as a KIA or WIA (killed in action or wounded in action) replacement. Six months earlier, in April 1918, the 74th Company had been encamped while being held in reserve near Verdun, site of the
Battle of Verdun in 1916, and was shelled by a nighttime German artillery barrage firing deadly
mustard gas shells. With many of the Marines caught asleep in their tents, the unit suffered casualties of over 300 officers and men, 40 of whom were killed. On November 11, 1918, very shortly after his arrival in France, the
Armistice officially ended the hostilities of World War I, and, being too late for combat duty, Parcaut was assigned to the Occupation Forces then moving into Germany. On December 29, 1918,
General John J. Pershing issued the first General Order (#241) relating to sports in the U.S. Army. General Pershing was the Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. The order directed the development of general and competitive athletics and all kinds of appropriate entertainment for the purpose of keeping up the morale, fostering and developing organization,
esprit de corps, and improving the physical fitness of the Army. The order led to American Expeditionary Forces championship competitions in track & field,
baseball,
football,
basketball,
tennis,
boxing and wrestling. The publication of GO #241 established a cooperative arrangement between the Army and the
YMCA. The
Inter-Allied Games, as the culminating event was to be known, signaled the peace following the Great War to soldiers of the Allied armies. The invitation to participate in the Inter-Allied Games was issued by General Pershing, as Commander-in-Chief (CINC) of the American Expeditionary Forces, on January 19, 1919, less than five and a half months before the opening of the events themselves. Invitations were sent to 29 nations; Germany, was excluded for obvious reasons. Eighteen nations accepted, while other countries declined for various reasons. Some had only a small number of men in France, for some the date for the games was too near to allow for training and transporting soldiers, and troops of other nations had already left France and were being demobilized at home. Drawing on his skill and training gained from Farmer Burns twelve years earlier, Parcaut entered one of the preliminary matches, the American Expeditionary Forces Divisional Games held in
Coblenz, Germany, and won first place in his event. In April 1919, he was detached from his company to compete in the American Expeditionary Forces Games, held at
Le Mans, France, and once again took first prize in
wrestling. He was held in service in France in order to compete in the Inter-Allied Games which officially took place in Paris at the newly constructed
Pershing Stadium from June 22 to July 6, 1919. To add to the heightened mood of the Games, on June 28, 1919, the fifth anniversary of the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in
Sarajevo, the event which had precipitated the war, the formal signing of the
Treaty of Versailles took place, officially bringing World War I to a close. During the course of the Inter-allied Games, Parcaut soundly defeated challengers from fourteen nations in the light heavyweight division of catch-as-catch-can wrestling, taking every bout but the final one with falls, to become the "Champion Wrestler of the A.E.F." He was one of only twelve American servicemen to win gold medals at the games, including future boxing legend
Gene Tunney. General Pershing and many other notables, including France's
Marshal Ferdinand Foch, who had been Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies, sat in on Parcaut's victorious matches during the games, and his gold medal was awarded at the closing ceremonies by Pershing himself. Following the end of the games, Pershing Stadium, which had been specially built by the U.S. Military and
YMCA to host the event, was officially presented as a gift from the United States to the people of France. On his way back to the U.S. following the games, Parcaut won the title of Heavyweight Champion of the Navy. By August 1919, Parcaut was back in the States, assigned to the 203rd
Casual Company, Marine Barracks,
Quantico, Virginia, and shortly afterwards was honorably discharged. For his exemplary service, he was awarded the USMC
Good Conduct Medal as well as the
World War I Victory Medal. ==Professional career - Middleweight Champion of the World==