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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

100 Years Ago Today...the World Changed


karlunity

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This is one I posted a few years ago about my Grandfather and his WW 1 adventure.

 

Posted 10 November 2007 - 11:50 PM

To all the veterans in this group I would like to say Thank You for your service.

Below is a picture post card my grandfather sent home from New York city right before he boarded the boat headed for France and WW1 in 1917. Grandpa arrived poorly trained. His training was cut short as the US needed to get as many warm bodies in the trenches as fast as possible. He was taught how to shoot and bayonet fight in one afternoon and his basic training was less than two weeks. The biggest portion of his training consisted of numerous lectures on the evils of venereal disease and French women whose husbands had gone to war. Grandpa claimed he received more training on how to avoid head lice and cooties than he did with a gun. Once he arrived in France his ill trained company was placed in the trenches with French troops and French rifles. After several firearms accidents the French soldiers refused to stay with the US troops and they were pulled out of the front lines.

Grandpa's company were all moved back to properly train them. General Pershing decided rather than train them to use them as support troops. Grandpa, the son of a M.D. become a medic with absolutely no training after complaining to an officer about the sanitary conditions of wounded soldiers on their way to a hospital. In 1917 Grandpa knew about bacteria and how to dress, clean wounds and the need to use soap and water. Grandpa's commanding officer, a veteran of the Indian Wars still carried a sword was unaware of the need for clean bandages promptly promoted him to a Corporal, made him a medic and put him to work transporting wounded to a French hospital.

After Grandpa arrived at the hospital and his lack of medical knowledge was discovered he was transferred again and spent the remainder of the war either driving an ambulance or dispatching. After arriving in the ambulance pool it was discovered that he had a skill most did not have in 1917, he knew how to drive. Not only could he drive, he knew how to get the Ford ambulances running. Before volunteering for the war, he worked in his uncle's Ford dealership and garage. Grandpa claimed they had numerous brand new ambulances but there wasn't anybody in the medical corps that knew how to operate them and wounded were being transported with horse and buggies. By the time a motor pool was established Grandpa was promoted to Master Sargent but he returned home a buck private.

It took years to get him to talk about the demotion. He tried his best to avoid talking about it but he sent home pictures showing his stripes. I know he got in trouble for lying about his son being a honeymoon baby. He got my Grandmother in trouble and a quickie marriage was arraigned before he left. Grandpa spent his Sundays doing double duty as an alter boy in the Catholic services and an usher in the Protestant and Jewish services. When the Chaplin found out Grandpa's so-called low moral character he lost his status as an assistant Chaplan. Afterwards Grandpa was prohibited from participation in the protestant and Jewish services. The ushers would collect donations and the Chaplain assumed if he had sex before marriage he couldn't be trusted with god's money.

Grandpa did admit to one demotion. He got in the middle a bar room brawl between US GI's and English Marines and was arrested. An English officer was severely injured after a GI tossed a wine bottle at his head.

Grandpa did kill one German and I believe it bothered him until the day he died. Toward the end of the war he had picked up several wounded Germans. When they arrived at the hospital one of the Germans over powered the guard and put him down with the butt of the guard's own rifle. As the German ran away Grandpa said he picked up the guard's rifle and shot the German in the back as he ran away. Grandpa said he saw the German's face in nightmares for years.

Hope I didn't bother you with my long post. I really miss my Grandfather and when I think of Veterans on Veterans day I always think of him.

grand-1.jpg

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