IN THEIR OWN WORDS ...

An order came from the War Department to present myself at the local draft board on Sunday morning... at 6:45 am, prepared for roll call, as it was put. I reported on time but had a long wait for it was not until 10:20 am that I marched down Germantown Avenue to Broad Street with hundreds of others who had likewise been ordered to go to camp. Crowds lined the avenue...

Sgt. Maximilian Boll, 79th Division
Unpublished manuscript, FIRST JOURNEY

Arrived at Camp Dix, Wrightstown, New Jersey 10 PM. Stood in pouring rain until midnight while two men in contingent were deloused. Then marched to barracks.

Corporal Eugene Kennedy, 78th Division
Diary

...From 7:30 to 10:45 we have infantry drill, bayonet drill and physical exercise. That doesn't mean 5 minutes drill and rest either... A total 20 minutes rest in that time. We generally have ... combat problems between 1:00 and 4:00 pm rain, mud or dust... [Then] 28 inch steps at 140 steps per [minute] on a hike of several miles...

Recruit Named Bill
Postcard


Dear Agnes,
You probably are thinking the army has swallowed me up and that consequently all of my relations with civilization have been severed... After 10 weeks in the army I am, of course, getting accustomed to the life. But I can't say I like it.

Signature unreadable
Letter


Dear Ma:
I have saved a little money, and when I get back home I'm goin' to buy me two mules, and name on of 'em Corporal and the other one Sergeant; then I'm goin' to lick hell out of both of 'em!

Signature unreadable
Post Card

SHIPPING OUT

Dear Folks,
...As to leaving, we hear rumors and rumors and then some more rumors, but I have it directly and on the very best of authority that tonight is the night... All I can say is when letters stop, I've left here.

Private Gerald Keith, 74th Artillery
Letter


Weds. 2nd Got paid, and left Camp Devens at 2:30 P.M. and finished the day in New York...

Thurs. 3rd Took ferry at Harlem & got off to go aboard transport -- Hamburg American liner "Amerika." Located in the third bunk from the deck... rotten bed tonight, but the first one in 28 hours.

Fri. 4th Pulled out of dock at 2:30 P.M. and lost sight of lights at 9 P.M. Lt. Morris & Sgt. Lawrence worked hard to get us fed and did very well. No lights or smoking on deck.

Sgt. Edwin Bemis, 29th Engineers
Diary


On July 15th, we started our voyage, at 7 am, on the transport Northern Pacific. The first day was quite thrilling with the destroyers dashing around us and a dirigible balloon and seaplane above.

But the second day -- wow ! Sick isn't a strong enough word. There were [also] a bunch of negro engineers on board from the deep south, a new experience for me.

Our convoy left us and our boat and the sister ship, Great Northern, were hitting it along at a great rate. I was called upon to furnish two shifts or reliefs of twenty-four men each for watch guard. From then on to the end of the trip I was busy day and night, roosting reliefs and on the watch for submarines. At nite we slept on the deck and the guard was fortunate as the poor fellows who were sleeping below nearly suffocated. I got sick whenever I went below, but felt OK while I was on deck.

Sgt. Edwin Gerth, 51st Artillery
Diary


...At 1:15 PM the alarm bells sounded while we were attending a lecture. We hurried to our berth compartments
as the guns boomed, and then on deck. The sub was a porpoise.

Pvt. Otis E. Briggs, 1st Division
Unpublished manuscript, A COMMON SOLDIER

THE YANKS ARRIVE IN FRANCE

About 2:30 in the morning we entered Havre, France. The cries and shouts of greeting of the boatmen and boatgirls woke us up. We gathered by the rail and gazed for the first time at the brilliantly lighted harbor and realized that we were in France. We could distinguish many shouts of Le Americaine out of the hubbub of French that was shouted at us. At ten in the morning while we were waiting on deck with our full equipment on, a trainload of 500 wounded came in on the wharf beside us. They were brought on board at once. About half of them were suffering from gas poisoning. Their skin was yellow and their eyes were protected from the sun by paper shades. Many had both legs amputated. A few were Germans who were put in the lowest ward below the water line. The harbor was jammed with warships, transports and hydro aeroplanes. We marched two miles to a British rest camp. We passed hundreds of German prisoners being marched to and fro from work. They were a dirty hard looking lot. They all examined us minutely and I would have given a lot to know what they thought.

Pvt. Hazen S. Helmrich
3rd Army Hospital/Base Hospital 17


Thurs. 17th Sighted land at 10 am. Came into port [Brest] at noon Tues. 22nd Aboard train -- corned beef, hardtack, coffee occasionally. Went thru Rennes, Le Mans and Tours.

Sgt. Edwin Bemis, 29th Engineers
Diary


About dusk we got into Chalons sur Marne... We left men on the train while we got off and attempted to inquire at the station where the American headquarters were. The French looked very blank for a while and then suddenly had an inspiration. "Ah, oui," they said, "les dames Americaines", and to our great surprise took us into a large waiting room where the American Red Cross had been running a canteen for two years... They served [us] chocolate, soup and little crackers.

Lt. Birge M. Clark, Balloon Observation Corps.
Unpublished manuscript, WORLD WAR I MEMOIRS