Eric Fisher Wood

Eric Fisher Wood Sr. (1888–1962) was an American engineer, Pennsylvania National Guard general, co-founder of The American Legion and designer of its emblem. Early years and education Eric Fisher Wood was born in New York City in 1888 to Frances Fisher Wood and Dr. William Benjamin Wood. As a boy Wood was educated in private schools. He later enrolled at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, from which he graduated with degrees in Economics, English, and a PhD degree in civil engineering. Wood did additional post-graduate course work studying architecture at Columbia University in New York City, as well as the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. World War I At the time of the eruption of World War I, Wood was an American in Paris. Wood volunteered his services at the American Embassy in France as an attaché, joining the Embassy staff to help handle the greatly increased workload that was associated with the war. Later Wood would join the American Ambulance Corps, serving in that capacity for a few months. Wood maintained a journal during his time in Europe which he published in book form in 1915 as The Note-book of an Attaché: Seven Months in the War Zone.