I was recently reading
the journal/diary my that my grandfather kept when he enlisted in the navy in World War 1. He wasn't very educated or sophisticated, or travelled, and most of the entries
just listed the drudgery of military routine - standing watch, washing his
laundry, receiving letters from home, but rarely revealing their contents. Now
and then, a detail cropped up that was intriguing, perhaps because the
specifics were so lacking:
--On Lake Michigan, at
the Great Lakes Naval station, he saw snow falling for the first time. He was
25 years old.
--An officer in one of
the Great Lakes barracks went insane, and had to be restrained and taken away.
--Theodore
Roosevelt addressed the assembled troops on the parade ground. But he was too
far away for my grandfather to photograph him clearly.
--The sailor running the ship store was caught stealing, and was put in the brig on a ration of bread and water.
--On the Atlantic, homeward bound, escaping the crowded hammocks and stuffy air
below, he slept on the deck of his battleship, the USS Delaware. During the crossing, he spotted a
two-masted schooner, and a whale.
--While
overseas, the ship and crew of the Delaware were inspected by the king of
England.
Queen Elizabeth's grandfather
The
one incident I could picture clearly was when he was granted a twelve-hour shore
leave off the coast of Scotland, while the Delaware was at anchor in the Firth
of Forth. He decided with his brother, who was assigned to the same ship, to
walk three miles into the town of Dumfermline. On the way, the two of them were caught in the open in a sudden
rainfall. They took shelter beneath a bridge, and talked to each other for a
couple of hours, about the folks back home, about their shipmates, how lucky they were not to be in the trenches, and all the
events that had brought them to this place.
When
the rain cleared enough to continue their walk, they bought post cards and
tobacco, and found a photo studio where they had their portraits done in
traditional Scottish garb.
my grandfather
my great uncle
They
found the local YMCA, where they were given doughnuts and coffee. My grandfather, the one in the upper photo, played the piano there until it was time to make the walk back to the Delaware.
