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the ship carried her crew and 101 men of the U. S. Naval Relief Unit. These
men had just come from Belgium where they had been doing relief work
for the Belgian people.
Despite several days of stormy weather we had a very pleasant voyage.
The meals were splendid; we had chicken on two occasions. When weather
permitted we had movies on the quarter deck and the ship's band and our
own gave several concerts daily. Sgt. Stevenson was made editor-in-chief of
the Montana Bulletin, a daily paper published on the ship, and commented
on various subjects close to the hearts of the soldier, such as "Are We Entitled to Two Service Stripes?" and "Who Won the War?"
Shortly after breakfast on the morning of May 26, land was sighted and
it was not long before we were steaming into Boston. The Boston Welcoming Committee, consisting of a girl in a brown cloak and two boat loads of
other people and two brass bands gave us a great welcome and tried hard
to throw chocolate and cigarettes on board the Montana, but the fishes got
most of them.
As we drew near to the piers, the whistles of factories, tug boats and
steamers sounded off and after the Montana had been tied up at Commonwealth Pier, a large brass band played the "Missouri Waltz," while the
"fighting farmers" yelled "When Do We Eat?" and other war cries.
We disembarked at 1 p. m. and after being given eats and toilet articles
by the Salvation Army, Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, Jewish Welfare Board, and
Knights of Columbus, boarded a New York, New Haven & Hartford special
train and were taken to Camp Devens, at Ayer, Mass. Here we were immediately deloused, inspected and bathed. Many who had had their uniforms cleaned and pressed by the sailor tailors on the Montana and had
decorated them with new insignias, service and wound stripes had to roll
them up in a barracks bag and have them sent through the delouser. They
came out free from cooties, but badly in need of pressing again.
After the company had been thoroughly cleaned and a few fitted (?)
with new uniforms, we were marched back to the barracks to which we had
been assigned and had our pictures taken. During the next day, aside from
posing for another picture, the company had nothing to do but to wait for
the first sergeant to complete the endless amount of paper work that had to
be done before the men who were not to go to Funston with the company
could be transferred to the camps nearest their homes.
On the following day the regiment was assembled in an open space near
the barracks, where a recruiting officer outlined the usual opportunities
being offered soldiers to re-enlist. It cannot be said that the inducements
were not good, but almost every one was thinking too much about home
to be much influenced by a chance to"go back to France or Germany, and
there was not much response.
The companies had started back to their barracks when it was announced
that Colonel LaDue, who had trained the 314th Engineers at Camp Funston,
was present and w7ould address the regiment. The colonel made a short
talk in which he spoke of his regret of not being privileged to go overseas
with the organization he had trained, and complimented the regiment on its
work at the front.
—89—
Object Description
| Title | A history of Company A, 314th Engineers, 89th Division |
| Collection Name | World War I Unit Histories |
| Subject.LCSH | World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories; United States. Army. Corps of Engineers -- Regimental histories; United States. Army -- History -- World War, 1914-1918 |
| Subject.Local |
World War I 89th Division 314th Engineers Company A |
| Description | World War I account of Company A, 314th Engineers. Includes chronology, casualties, and roster of soldiers including addresses. |
| Creator | William S Haswell; Charles S Stevenson |
| Publisher | [S.l. : s.n., 1919?] |
| Date | 1919 |
| Date.Search | 1919 |
| Date.Digital | 2012 |
| Type | Books and Pamphlets |
| Format | JPG2000 |
| Accession Number | 79.20.16 |
| Language | eng |
| Contributing Institution | National World War I Museum and Memorial |
| Rights | All images are in the public domain. |
| Copy Request | Contact National World War I Museum Archivist Jonathan Casey at 816-888-8121 or jcasey@theworldwar.org |
| Note | Some blank pages have been omitted. |
Description
| Title | Page 89 |
| Transcript | the ship carried her crew and 101 men of the U. S. Naval Relief Unit. These men had just come from Belgium where they had been doing relief work for the Belgian people. Despite several days of stormy weather we had a very pleasant voyage. The meals were splendid; we had chicken on two occasions. When weather permitted we had movies on the quarter deck and the ship's band and our own gave several concerts daily. Sgt. Stevenson was made editor-in-chief of the Montana Bulletin, a daily paper published on the ship, and commented on various subjects close to the hearts of the soldier, such as "Are We Entitled to Two Service Stripes?" and "Who Won the War?" Shortly after breakfast on the morning of May 26, land was sighted and it was not long before we were steaming into Boston. The Boston Welcoming Committee, consisting of a girl in a brown cloak and two boat loads of other people and two brass bands gave us a great welcome and tried hard to throw chocolate and cigarettes on board the Montana, but the fishes got most of them. As we drew near to the piers, the whistles of factories, tug boats and steamers sounded off and after the Montana had been tied up at Commonwealth Pier, a large brass band played the "Missouri Waltz," while the "fighting farmers" yelled "When Do We Eat?" and other war cries. We disembarked at 1 p. m. and after being given eats and toilet articles by the Salvation Army, Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, Jewish Welfare Board, and Knights of Columbus, boarded a New York, New Haven & Hartford special train and were taken to Camp Devens, at Ayer, Mass. Here we were immediately deloused, inspected and bathed. Many who had had their uniforms cleaned and pressed by the sailor tailors on the Montana and had decorated them with new insignias, service and wound stripes had to roll them up in a barracks bag and have them sent through the delouser. They came out free from cooties, but badly in need of pressing again. After the company had been thoroughly cleaned and a few fitted (?) with new uniforms, we were marched back to the barracks to which we had been assigned and had our pictures taken. During the next day, aside from posing for another picture, the company had nothing to do but to wait for the first sergeant to complete the endless amount of paper work that had to be done before the men who were not to go to Funston with the company could be transferred to the camps nearest their homes. On the following day the regiment was assembled in an open space near the barracks, where a recruiting officer outlined the usual opportunities being offered soldiers to re-enlist. It cannot be said that the inducements were not good, but almost every one was thinking too much about home to be much influenced by a chance to"go back to France or Germany, and there was not much response. The companies had started back to their barracks when it was announced that Colonel LaDue, who had trained the 314th Engineers at Camp Funston, was present and w7ould address the regiment. The colonel made a short talk in which he spoke of his regret of not being privileged to go overseas with the organization he had trained, and complimented the regiment on its work at the front. —89— |
| Identifier | WWIUH_CoA314Eng89-091.tif |
