This was taken sometime in 1917 of Uncle Doc. Elmer B. Staley was Cindy's aunt's husband. A medical doctor he was a physician during WWI and went to France sometime very late in 1917. The photo is not dated but I would expect it to have been taken before went overseas. The single bar indicated a rank of First Lieutenant. If you wish to understand the conflict I would highly recommend the podcast, Hardcore History by Dan Carlin. The specific 6-part series is Blueprint for Armageddon, Plan to be engrossed.