At noon of the same day we (?) a range of mountains a short distance inland from Genoa, something wonderful at night. We put up for the night at Piacenca (?) following morning at 8 AM started once more this time to the plains of the Piamonde, a pretty farming country.
7 PM we pulled into city of Mantova; struck our pup tents; had Mass at 8:30. Camped at Casino of Palazzo Del Te just outside of the city gates. A very fine position, under large trees. Am Sect. stayed until the 25th. Meanwhile a few carloads of freight arrived in at station for us. They consisted of 4 large casks. These contained 4 GMC chassis. These were put up and towed to camp. We also received a numerous amount of cases containing GMC parts and Dodge tires and tube, motorcycle tires and tubes. Some cases weighed up to 750 lbs.
On evening of the 24th I was told by VanWinkle that 5 of us were to report the following morning to the Serg. of MSIN 350 who accompanied us from Genoa, in that crowd was VanWinkle, Walsh Kark, Kearny and myself. I never saw the Serg. from that time on, the ?=!------?!------ (pardon this) but Capt. Tomlin the following morning told me that we would be sent up to the Sect. in about 4 or 5 days. This sounded somewhat good to me. If it was true but it was not. I never got there. In fact, none of us did. About the middle of Sept I was sent to Vicrmyn (?) to our dentist to get one of my teeth fixed, also a wonderful trip. There I met Capt. Tomlin, Frank Vistine, Plimpton and Wilkerson. It felt good to see them once more.
The early part of October I was detailed to officers villa as (?). On the 21st of Oct I was moved to the informary at the Dural Palace with Spanish Influenza, sick pretty bad for about 2 weeks. Got out of bed for the first time just to walk around on the 7th of Nov. On the 10th went out for the first time, walked about 3 1/4 miles and also went to church to assist at Mass. Afternoon 11th (really difficult for me to read but looks like) Bentley reverend Parade commemorate the supposed hour Germany was supposed to sign the Armistice. Quite a Parade.
Did you catch that your grandfather survived the Spanish Flu? This epidemic killed millions of people (up to 5% of the world's population) worldwide 1918-1919, targeting healthy young adults in particular. The first and best recorded case was in a Kansas military camp. The American military apparently carried it to Europe with them. Due to the war, countries involved in the war censored their health reports so it wasn't known worldwide until it hit Spain. Thus, Spanish Influenza.
There were 3 waves of the spread of this deadly flu. The first was wildly contagious, the second very deadly and the 3rd spread as people celebrated the end of the War with the Armistice. Your grandfather's journal seems to indicate he fell ill either at the end of the second wave or was part of the very beginning of the third wave. I believe his comment that he was "sick pretty bad" was likely a tremendous understatement. There are those that believe that people who survived this flu developed very strong resistance to similar illnesses. Regardless, your grandfather survived to return to his home and begin a family after having been an integral part of world history. How cool is that?
1 comment:
You are right, it is very cool. He mentions it so casually. I wonder if he ever realized the scope of the epidemic and how lucky he was. I like to read his stories. It makes you feel like you were there.
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