Above: a host of advertisements from Gratiot County newspapers from March 1918.

           In March 1918 many people continued to make wartime sacrifices as winter ended. The Great War affected every American from big cities to small towns. Gratiot County was no exception.

         “We Won’t Win If We Waste” was the warning to housewives to do their part for voluntary rationing. Women were encouraged to reduce the use of wheat in their household by at least one third. They were told in newspapers, “Do your bit – small sacrifices now may save you from making greater ones later.” For example, dairy products were excellent substitutes, as well as eggs, macaroni, spaghetti, crackers, along with cornstarch and rice flour for puddings. Additionally, another form of patriotism involved the use of potato bread because Michigan had a surplus of potatoes. This substitute bread could be made with two cups of mashed potatoes for every cup of flour. These changes allowed a housewife to “beat the Kaiser at his own game” because “Bread and bullets will win battles for America.”   By conserving the purchase of wheat flour, a woman might save enough money to buy another Thrift Stamp for the war effort. Other substitutes for wheat-based meals included barley mush, vegetable loaf, and carrot soufflé.

          As Uncle Sam called more men for the war one of the groups included farmers and farmhands. There were those in Gratiot County who believed that these workers should be exempt from the draft because Gratiot County played an important part in providing food for the war effort. “A Farmer’s Daughter” sent a long letter to the Gratiot County Herald protesting the drafting of farmers’ sons. Both “city boys” and “country boys” were in high demand on farms in 1918 and many farmers depended on help from both groups. The draft boards were eventually told to try and delay calling all men engaged in actual farm work. A bulletin from the Adjutant General read, “Due to the scarcity of farm labor, the President directs that men engaged completely in agricultural work or farming…shall be given a deferred classification for the moment.”

       Boys between the ages of 17 and 21 who could work on the farms in 1918 faced pressure to sign up for the Boys’ Working Reserve Program in the county.  While school superintendents hoped that these boys would remain in school in order to graduate, many recognized the importance of their role in the war effort. At least one Michigan school district threatened students that if they did not work in the program then they would not be able to play football that fall. The state superintendent issued a statement that boys who entered the program were doing their community, state, and nation a great public service. The only criteria to enter the program in Gratiot County was that they were “physically qualified.” This hoped to add many boys to help out on farms in the county.

          Other issues Gratiot farmers faced that month included the government’s decision to fix the prices of wheat, sugar, and beans. When the government failed to do the same for cotton in the South, county farmers felt that this was unfair and that cotton growers should also face restraints. Gratiot farmers were also urged to prepare for a nationwide tractor shortage. They were told that they should immediately place their orders for Ford tractors to be delivered starting April 1. It is unclear how many in the county could afford a tractor or how many purchased new ones.

          The stories of Gratiot County men in the military continued to be read in the county newspapers. Arthur Wiseman and Clarence Frump from Ithaca both had going away parties given in their honor and both men received new wristwatches. Roland Crawford and Fred Crozier had dinners given in their honor in the evenings before they left for Fort Custer, both were Ithaca High School graduates. Roland was about to become a senior at the University of Michigan. Crozier was taking classes at Ferris Institute in Big Rapids and he was known for his work in pharmacy stores in Alma and Ithaca. Art Foote, the captain of the Alma College football team, was the seventh member of that team to leave when he enlisted in the medical corps. “Art” hoped to become a doctor and was well known and liked by many on the campus of Alma College.

        Other news about soldiers sounded more serious. One mother, Owen Courter of Elwell, was relieved when she got a telegram from her son who was in Europe. She was uncertain as to whether her son had been aboard the USS Tuscania, a transport ship that was torpedoed in early February off the coast of Ireland. By mid-March, she reported with great relief that her son, Glen, cabled home a simple message, “Arrived here safely.”  Malon C. Briggs, who was in a camp in Middleton, Pennsylvania, wrote home to his family in Vestaburg detailing his unit’s battle against diphtheria and smallpox. The town had been quarantined and no one was allowed in or out. He and his men had received a player piano and a Victrola and they used these to pass the time. Walter H. Young, who was at a camp in Arizona, stated that a new YMCA building had been built and it allowed soldiers to write home. He also wrote that his group had just been issued new Colt .45 pistols. Whitford Unger wrote from England to tell his family that he was preparing for the move to France where “the biggest half of my battalion lie beneath the sod, and I will do the same to keep my dear old country free.” Bob Rayburn from Ithaca wrote from a camp in Newport, Virginia to tell his sister how a shell exploded inside of a three-inch gun, wounding thirty men and killing two. He added, “Several others were hurt severely. None of the Ithaca boys were near the gun so we did not get hurt.” Clarence M. Gruesbeck, who was in the 15^th Field Artillery, was actually in France now and described the French people as being very sociable, although they did not work as fast as Americans. He was stationed in a small village where the house and barn were connected. Gruesbeck was living at one end of the building and animals were in the other. The cake that his family sent to him arrived and although it was dry, it was eaten “and we thought it was very good.” He still really wished for good American candy.

        Call-ups for the draft went on. In Gratiot County, 50 men were called to appear for their physical examinations early in March. It was said that the government needed 95,000 men and 5,585 were to come from Michigan. Another 80 men were called, then the number reached 94. These men entered the service on March 29. Among the names who would never return to Gratiot County were George Washington Myers, Samuel Benjamin Derby, and William Lee Shippey. All would die during the war.

       Different chapters of the Red Cross in Gratiot County performed their services to raise money and tried to increase their membership. Sergeant Major Russell of the Canadian Army, who had served at the Western Front for three years, came to the county and spoke at different churches. One meeting he held in Ithaca raised $370. Another at the Alma Presbyterian Church raised $250. Both places donated the proceeds to the Red Cross. Different events in Ithaca like thimble parties, dancing parties, and box socials also raised funds. Both of the movie theater owners in Ithaca and St. Louis showed movies and donated proceeds from a show to the Red Cross. A Red Cross drive in Alma hoped to raise the necessary $500 each month to do its part for the war. Solicitors went out into parts of the city to find new pledges of support.  The money was needed because current funds did not cover the cost of shipping supplies to service areas.  The Alma Chapter was very active and it asked people to help pledge something for this challenge. Even pledging only twenty-five cents showed that “This is one means of paying for the privilege of staying at home. It is your patriotic duty to give all that you can to one of the noblest services that the war presents.” The Alma Chapter also held a Firemen’s Ball and raised $108.44. Community singing programs continued as ways of showing support for the war and raising funds, however, once spring weather approached the programs were suspended.

        The Red Cross chapter encouraged people in Alma to prepare to use any unused ground in the city for liberty gardens in the spring. Collecting clean, strong and durable clothing was needed to help reach a goal of sending 2100 tons to Belgium’s men women and children who were in need. The Alma Chapter asked readers, “Have you been to the Red Cross room this month?” A Free Reading Room with bulletins from the Committee on Public Information was available. Red Cross workers also were given new directions from Washington, D.C. concerning the official dress for those at the Alma Red Cross room. Each lady was expected to wear a white apron with sleeves to the wrist, along with a white coif. The instructor in charge wore a red coif with a white band. Any woman with 32 hours of work wore a Red Cross emblem on the left breast of her apron. The new dress regulations were to start April 1.

       Also during that March, citizens were urged to show their individual patriotism. Over in Elwell, an announcement read, “It is believed here that it will aid the patriotic spirit if community singing of patriotic songs is taken up here the same as in many other places in the country. All that are interested are requested to be present this Sunday evening at the church. This means you!” The village of Sumner had similar meetings at the Christian Church. Service flags continued to spring up all over the county. The Ithaca Presbyterian Church presented, unveiled and dedicated its new flag with stars representing members from that congregation. The Booster Class of the Ithaca Baptist Church did the same thing on Sunday morning. Reverend Roberts fulfilled his role there as a “Minute Man” for the ceremony. The Minute Men in Gratiot County were individuals who gave short, four-minute speeches to show support for the war effort. The Committee on Public Information (CPI) prepared speeches for people to give at various times and places across the nation. Breckenridge High School also displayed its first Service Flag which had 34 stars on it.  Businessman Carl Faunce in the same town had a service flag in his store’s window with three stars, each for a former employee who was in the service.

        Raising money for the effort continued. People in Alma and Ithaca were encouraged to come and hear Gunner Depew, an American sailor who went off to the war in 1914 and fought for France against the Hun on both land and sea. The Third Liberty Loan Drive also started and the Alma Episcopal Church stepped up and bought $1,000 worth of bonds. Some county men in the service wrote letters home telling how they also had purchased bonds. Anyone in Gratiot County who could not buy a bond could buy Thrift Stamps. Many were urged to buy a stamp each day for only a quarter. Other things people could do to show support for the war involved watching high school cadets practice their drills at a basketball game between Alma and St. Louis. The Alma Order of the Eastern Star wanted to adopt a French Orphan and planned to raise money to provide for the child for one year. The C.A. Sawkins Piano Company in Alma asked for people to donate unused phonographs and records for soldiers at Fort Custer. Citizens were also asked to buy either a watch, razors, dining utensils or Masonic and Odd Fellows rings for soldiers who had gone off to war.

         There also were warnings directed toward the disloyal or unpatriotic in Gratiot County. Penalties for hoarding were posted. Hoarders were warned of facing a $5000 fine and imprisonment for hoarding “in a quantity in excess of his reasonable requirements for use and consumption for himself and dependents for a reasonable time.” Also, the United States Intelligence Department asked for drawings, photographs, and descriptions of bridges, buildings, towns and communities in France, Belgium and Luxemburg that the Germans currently held. The government asked individuals to go through their collections and donate these items to the Intelligence Department, however, they would not be returned. Those who could help could leave their items at the Alma Record.

        Finally, everyone was urged to prepare for the impending “Daylight Law” that would start April 1. All clocks were to be set ahead one hour so that places like factories in Alma could start work one hour earlier. Church service times did not change. It was what we called Daylight Savings Time.

Copyright 2018 James M. Goodspeed

 

 

 

Above: The markers and resting place of Clifford R. Kime in Breckenridge’s Ridgelawn Cemetery.

Note: This is the second part of thirty articles that will run in 2018 to commemorate the lives of thirty Gratiot County men who died serving their county, state and nation during The Great War. These thirty men are named on the Gratiot County All Wars Memorial in Ithaca. Each article will run on the centennial anniversary of that man’s death.

         Clifford  Kime was the second Gratiot County man, and first Navy man, to die in the service of the United States during the Great War. News of Kime’s death reached Breckenridge just a few days after his death on February 19, 1918 at Carney Hospital in South Boston, Massachusetts.

        Clifford Ray Kime was born on March 20, 1895 to Jacob and Ida Kime in the Midland County town of Porter.  He was the middle of three , sons. The Kime family moved to Breckenridge in 1908 and Clifford graduated with the Breckenridge Class of 1913. At some point  prior to the war Kime’s father went to work for the Republic Truck Company in Alma.  Kime served the next four years as a druggist clerk in Breckenridge and Detroit. He then took an examination to become a registered druggist through Ferris Institute. During the summer of 1917, Kime worked in Houghton, Michigan, but when the call for military service came his name was the first name on Breckenridge’s registration list. Clifford Kime  willingly answered that call.

      Kime initially enlisted as a volunteer in the Navy’s medical corps. He left for the United States Naval Training Station at Newport, Rhode Island  on September 13, 1917.  His family and friends saw him at Christmas when he came home on a two week furlough. What was Clifford Kime’s biggest regret at that time? Only that he claimed that he would  have enlisted as soon as war had been declared  that spring. Kime believed that all young men in Gratiot County should join up to defend what was right and to fight Kaiserism.

         Shortly afterward, he transferred to the Radio Service and in January 1918 he took course work at Harvard University.   During this time he contracted pneumonia and died after a three day illness. In remembering Clifford Kime, it was written in a local newspaper that “Clifford was always of a cheerful disposition, energetic, possessing a winning frankness that guaranteed him an ever increasing number of friends wherever he went.” He also had been a member of the Breckenridge Masonic Lodge and the Men’s Bible Class of the Methodist Sunday School.

        After his body was returned to Breckenridge, services were held before a large crowd at the Methodist Church. The text from the pastor on that day that typified Kime’s service was taken from John 18:37. It read, “To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world.” Among the family members he left behind was his niece and namesake, Virginia Clifford Kime. After the funeral, Clifford Ray Kime’s body was laid to rest in Breckenridge’s Ridgelawn Cemetery.

Copyright 2018 James M Goodspeed

 

Above: SS Tuscania; The Boys Working Reserve pin; 1918 era poster promoting The Boys Working Reserve

     In February 1918 Gratiot County got the message about the cost of lives that were connected to  American involvement in World War I.

       A major shock came in early February with the loss of the SS Tuscania, a transport ship and former Cunard luxury liner which carried 2, 179 soldiers to Europe, along with 383 crew members. The German U-Boat, UB-77, sank it on the morning of February 5. It took four hours to sink and 210 on board died. Newspapers focused on the sinking and although many Michigan men of the 32^nd Rainbow Division were aboard, no Gratiot County servicemen were named in the reports. This event accompanied the news at the end of the month concerning the death of a Gratiot County soldier, Clifford Kime, from Breckenridge. Kime died from complications of tonsillitis and pneumonia in a Boston area hospital. Together, these events in February brought home the reality of the war to Gratiot County.

      Enlistments from Gratiot County remained strong because many Gratiot County men volunteered to serve their country. February saw almost 40 men step forward to serve Uncle Sam. Recruiting Officer Tom Boston had been in Gratiot County for nine months and he had helped almost 300 men to enlist during that time. Still, the draft board remained busy and examined 279 men on February 18-19. At least 75 in the group were going to be sent to Georgia training camps in March. Because of stricter regulations, fewer men were being discharged.

      Anyone who questioned Gratiot County’s patriotism needed to only count the number of service flags that were being donated and flown in various places. Alma College dedicated its service flag on Lincoln’s Birthday, accompanied by a speech by former Michigan Governor Chase S. Osborne. It had 72 stars on it when it was ordered (one for each former Alma College student serving in the war), however, by the time the ceremony took place it was thought that over 100 students were in the service. Alma High School ordered a service flag with 55 stars, but it too was thought to need more stars by the time it arrived. Churches also joined the flag raisings. Alma’s Methodist Episcopal Church invited service families from the congregation to recognize approximately 20 soldiers connected to the church when it dedicated its own flag. While Alma was in the news, many areas of the county, including schools and villages, had their own flags on display.

     The Red Cross became even more organized and kept the county informed of its needs, as well as its accomplishments. A new weekly column appeared in the Alma Record entitled “Alma Women in War Work” and it ran weekly throughout the rest of 1918. Women were urged to come and volunteer their time in one of four departments which worked on gauze, bandages, hospital garments or knitting. The Alma Red Cross even encouraged women to take work home to help out so that “no woman in this vicinity is to be known as a ‘slacker’.” Still, when $75 worth of yarn was distributed to knitting parties in January and nothing had been turned in, a gentle reminder was issued in the newspaper that people who had the material needed to turn in socks, helmets, sweaters or wristlets. More pressure was also put on women through the newspaper to register with the Red Cross “who (are) loyal to our Government” in order to help serve the country.

     The Red Cross also started a tradition with community singing.  After each program, someone  gave a talk that explained what people could do to be involved in the war effort.  These sometimes brought as many as 400 people to the services.  When the Red Cross had to vacate its headquarters in the Pollasky block it temporarily moved to the reception room at the Oddfellows Temple. Eventually, it ended up at the Masonic Home.

    Looking ahead to spring, the county worried about what could be done about potential food shortages. Among one of the biggest problems was the issue of the lack of farm help. The United States Boys’ Working Reserve program actively sought 700 young men, ages 16 to 21, who could work on Gratiot County farms. In 2017 it was estimated that 200,000 boys across the United States had become involved in the program.  While F.M. Harrington of Ithaca looked for recruits in the area, some farmers in the county objected to having city boys for labor. Still, if they really wanted help they could not be picky. One farmer lamented in the Alma Record that “if you can’t send me an experienced man, send me a boy –as husky a one as you can find.” When he stated that he had 80 acres to farm, 8 cows, some hogs, 15-20 acres of corn, 10-15 of oats – and hay, wheat and pasture – any recruit would quickly find that he would have plenty of work to do.  Regardless, the program was offered as a patriotic way for young men to serve in Gratiot County’s war effort.

     Then there were chicken rules, fats, and sugar. The United States Food Commission issued a new rule that starting April 1, 1918, it would be unlawful to purchase or kill live fowl or pullets. It was hoped that this would help with preserving the nation’s egg supply. Violation of the law could result in a fine of $5,000 and two years in prison. However, the new law affected many farmers’ wives who had previously counted on chicken and egg money. While people in 1918 needed a certain amount of fat in their diet, Americans were called to remember the suffering of women and children in Europe. Gratiot County women were urged to save butter and serve meat gravy in its place at dinner. They were also told to save lard and butter and not to use it in cooking. Deep fat frying was to be done sparingly. Fats that could not be used any longer were to be kept for fall soap making or house cleaning. Sugar consumption was to be limited to 3-4 pounds per week per person. This was not easy. When a store in Alma had a new sack of sugar the word quickly got out and brought lineups at the counter. Cottage cheese was also viewed as a great substitute for meat by adding cream, milk, chopped onion or green peppers to it.

     Other anticipated shortages in 1918 included binder twine. People were encouraged to buy a soldier a Smileage Book and mail it to him.  The books allowed soldiers to see entertainment at Camp Custer’s Liberty Theater. They sold out quickly in Ithaca. E.Berman and Sons in Alma wanted scrap iron. And then there was the chorus to a popular song that echoed the times, the war, and the yearning for sons and husbands to come home:

  “Keep the home fires burning,

  While your heats are yearning;

Though your lads are far away

They dream of Home;

There’s a silver lining

Through the dark cloud shining,

Turn the dark cloud inside out

Till the boys come Home.”

Copyright 2018 James M Goodspeed

 

Above: Signs that would be found in Gratiot County homes that volunteered to conserve food during 1918 from the U.S. Food Administration Service.

     As the war effort continued at the start of 1918, daily life across Gratiot County was filled with patriotism.

    For the first time, Gratiot County residents learned how to file their first federal income tax. A federal tax officer announced that he would be in his newly opened office in Alma in order help people make out their returns. There was no charge for the service. Married persons with an income of over $2000 and individuals with net incomes of $1000 had to file this new tax form. An estimated 5000 people in the county would have to file their taxes for this first time in history.  Penalties for not doing so ranged from $20 to $1000 or going to jail.

     St.Mary’s Church in Alma displayed a new service flag which had twelve stars, one for each member of the church that was currently in the service. One of the stars was for Father John Mulvey and another four represented four Alma College students. Alma College also hosted one of the first patriotic “pep rallies” in the county that would take place throughout 1918. More than one of these that year involved a speaker or serviceman from Canada or England. Doctor George Robert Parkin, from London, England, who was the Director of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust, spoke to an audience in the college chapel.  He expounded on how the United States and England were partners in the world war and they alone were left to win it since Russia had fallen into civil war and France was on the verge of collapse. Parkin also admitted that he was in the United States in order to assess the attitude of Americans toward the war. The Ithaca National Bank, “The Bank on the Corner,” encouraged people to purchase War Savings Certificates, also called “Baby War Bonds.  The Alma State Bank stated that it sold $700 worth of stamps to customers there.

     Probably one of the biggest things that affected the daily lives of Gratiot County residents involved what became known as “The Prudden Orders” (named after W.K. Prudden, the Federal Fuel Administrator).  These orders dealt with how the state of Michigan would conserve fuel for the war effort.  Regulations were issued about how long certain buildings could be heated or lighted each week. Stores could only operate for nine consecutive hours a day, except for Saturdays when they could be open for twelve hours. They also faced regulations on how many hours they could be lighted outside. Inside, the heat was set to no more than 68 degrees. Movie theaters in the county were closed on Tuesdays, on other days they were limited to six hours of operation. Saloons and bars were closed on Mondays. Meat markets and grocery stores could only be open until noon. It seemed that everywhere the public was now called upon to make fuel sacrifices because of the war.

     And then there were new issues with food. By late January, families had to apply for government-issued sugar cards in order to purchase any sugar in grocery stores. Ration cards were sent to each family to cover three months, with a grocer allowed to sell them only one pound of sugar per week. The card was punched by the grocer with each purchase. The government warned that there was not enough sugar in the country for everyone to have the usual amount until the fall harvest. It was suggested that children be given syrup, honey, molasses or preserves for snacks, as well as raisins for dessert. Mothers were encouraged to make a cake without frosting and to encourage the eating of preserves.  Coffee drinkers were urged to go easier on sugar in their coffee – and never leave any in the bottom of the cup. It was hoped that people in Gratiot County would limit themselves to no more than two ounces of sugar per day. County newspapers would continue to publish columns such as “WE WON’T WIN IF WE WASTE: Tested Wartime Recipes.”  Examples included recipes for how to make  Soldiers’ Mince Pie, Liquid Yeast, Old Glory Bread, Oatmeal Muffins, and Bread.

     The county moved to a voluntary “porkless Saturday” at the end of January. The pressure was put on families to voluntarily comply with this idea with the threat that eventually “porkless days” could become mandatory. The Gratiot County Herald issued a note from C.J. Chambers, the Food Administrator for Gratiot County, who admonished readers that “OUR GREATEST PROBLEM IS ONE OF FOOD!” He then asked them directly whether or not they observed meatless Tuesdays, wheatless Wednesdays, and having one other meatless meal at least once during the week. The article went on, “We are at war. Our soldiers and sailors come first. There should be no hoarding of flour or sugar in Gratiot County…You cannot afford to assist the enemy by deliberately refusing to observe the food regulations. If you do, you are only pushing victory away that much longer. Let’s Hooverize Gratiot county 100%.”

     Red Cross members continued to labor faithfully across the county.  In Breckenridge, the branch there met twenty-four afternoons since it formed the previous July. Although meetings only averaged about ten ladies, the group had expended a total of $278.68 on material and focused on creating surgical dressings. Other small Red Cross branches continued to serve. The East Fulton Red Cross had sixty-two members, held twenty-five meetings and had an average attendance of seven. With fuel shortages taking place the group held their meetings in the homes of members. They produced T. bandages, pillow cases, nightingales, and abdominal bandages.  The Newark Red Cross, led by Belle Kellogg, met at the Grange Hall where twenty-three women came in one day to work. After citing their accomplishments for the month, the group remarked that “The truly Red Cross spirit means our love for humanity and the work we do is measured by this love.”  Camps at Fort Wayne, Selfridge Field, and Camp Custer received the many different things created by all of these Gratiot County women.

    As the draft continued so did problems with those men who failed to heed the call. Those who did not report for the draft had their names turned over to the police. Early in the month, fifty-eight men failed to return their questionnaire and their names were published in the newspapers.  The local draft board also thought that many of the men who registered did not understand the correct methods of classification, whether it was due to physical conditions, or because they claimed agricultural and industrial work grounds. Because of these problems, the draft board had to again examine 2,600 papers and then call men back in again to answer questions. Men who had married since May 18, 1917, had to furnish proof to the draft board that they had not gotten married just to avoid the draft.  A special drive was taking place with the Alma enlistment office because it wanted to enlist a total of forty men for the month of January.  If the county did this for a second consecutive month, it would be classified as a central recruiting office, one which would have been uncommon for a county population under 50,000 people (which Gratiot County did not have in 1918). When enlistments lagged at mid-month due to a winter storm, officers went to Breckenridge and Shepherd to drum up recruiting there. Unfortunately, the drive failed. The Army also put out a statewide announcement that 7,000 specialists were needed for the Aviation Section Signal Corps which was stationed Camp Hancock, Georgia.

`     Gratiot County’s soldiers continued to write or visit home. Lieutenant Charles Dutt came home to Alma on his last leave from Mississippi, his last before being sent to France. Howard Burchard was also home on furlough. He had served as a gunner on the S.S. Teresa, a merchant ship that had been attacked one night by torpedoes off the European coast. Luckily, both shots missed the ship.  Lester N. Pressley wrote home from “Somewhere in France.”  He said that the climate was fair, he had candles with which to read and write at night, and he valued the handkerchiefs and hats that the Red Cross was knitting and sending overseas. Ted Kress from Ithaca wrote home that he and a group of men had purchased a type of phonograph that they hoped to take with them to France. Herman Rahn, who was with the Field Hospital Company Number 127 at Waco, Texas, explained how he had to try out newly created gas masks. Clyde E. Marvin, also stationed at Waco, wrote about the cleanliness and order at the camp. Napoleon Vancore published a column from Camp Custer and had his picture published in the Alma Record.

Finally, there was the growing reality that the war was going to reach more men and women from Gratiot County in 1918. Alma College faculty prepared to teach a new course about how science applied to warfare. Subjects included:  gas masks, diet, frostbite, how to purify water and how to use the stars for direction. Conversational  French was also being offered. The college announced that it was going to cancel spring break because students were going to be called for the draft or sent to farms to work in the spring. Telegraphers were also needed by the Army Signal Corps. A new war disease was named that affected soldiers on the Western Front. It was called “trench foot,” which was the result of standing in cold water both day and night. In many places in the county’s pool rooms, train depots and post offices posters told men of the trades that the Army offered for those who enlisted and how many men were wanted for service.

    The year 1918 was starting and it was going to be an interesting one for Gratiot County’s involvement in the Great War.

Copyright 2018 by James M Goodspeed

Above: Frank E. Huntoon marker, Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Louis, Michigan.

        Gratiot County’s first man to die in the Great War was one of several who sadly never made it to the Western Front.  This story, like a few others that will be told, is best viewed as the result of misfortune or accident.

           Frank E. Huntoon was born October 18, 1877, to Adelbert and Melissa Huntoon in Bridgeville, a small village located at the southern end of Gratiot County. Frank was the middle child of at least three children (George, Frank, and Mattie). By 1880 the family was living on a farm in Emerson Township.

          Little is known about Huntoon, although he must have joined the military and served in it for several years prior to the war. In 1910, he was a member of the 8^th United States Infantry at the Presidio of Monterrey in Monterrey, California. There is no evidence that he ever married or had children, so it is very possible that Frank E. Huntoon spent at least some of his life earlier in the United States Army.  However, in 1917 he again enlisted in the Army to serve his country.

           Huntoon was just short of forty years of age on August 1, 1917, when he found himself stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison. By winter there were an estimated 7300 troops of the 10^th Infantry Regiment at the camp. Frank E. Huntoon was one of these men.

           The winter of 1917-18 was extremely cold and harsh and had enormous amounts of snowfall. Soldiers at camps like Fort Harrison found themselves literally snowed in, confining them to the base. The Army tried to keep them busy there with their duties.  In short, life for Huntoon could have been very boring.  It was here that fate met him on December 28, 1917.

           Records and clues as to the cause of Huntoon’s death are scarce. One states that Huntoon “Worked at (the) Barber trade, and was in that service when he died.” Upon his death, his commanding officer, Lieutenant Henry G. Sebastine, wrote to Huntoon’s mother, “Private Frank Huntoon was an excellent soldier who was universally liked by his officers and his unfortunate death is a source of genuine sorrow to us all.”

          But what led to Frank E. Huntoon’s death? The only record left in the National Archives reads, “Died Dec. 28, 1917, at Ft. Benj. Harrison, Ind.  of wood alcohol poisoning.” Is it possible that Huntoon tried to relieve his boredom with some poorly made alcohol on the base? Was someone selling bad alcohol and Huntoon was a victim? Another answer to the cause of Huntoon’s death is a clipping from the St. Louis Leader which was printed after his funeral. It read that he was “taking ill with ptomaine poisoning, which was the cause of his death.”  This suggests that he contracted bad food at the camp.

           Regardless, there is more to Huntoon’s story after he died. Upon notification of her son’s death, Melissa Huntoon was told that the only way that she could get her son’s body returned to her in St. Louis was to pay $75 to a funeral company in Indianapolis, Indiana. Melissa, who had little money, somehow scraped together the required sum and forwarded it to the Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Home and the body was shipped home. And then things came to a boil after she talked to other soldiers who were home on furlough in St. Louis.

         Mrs. Huntoon soon learned that grieving mothers or widows could be entitled to insurance policies that soldiers took out in the event of their deaths. She also learned that the United States Army did not charge families money to have their sons or husbands sent home for burial. Upon writing to the Quartermaster General she stated, “We have buried (Frank) at our own expense and we are poor and if there is such a thing it would seem acceptable to us (to be compensated for the cost)…It seems though Uncle Sam ought to have paid my boy’s expenses home. He gave his life and now not one bit of help from him.”

         An Army investigation was quickly launched regarding Melissa Huntoon’s letter.  The entire affair also somehow made it into newspapers, apparently in Indiana, and writers there accused the funeral home of extortion. Within a few short weeks it appeared that Mrs. Huntoon received her money back, all as what the funeral home and Army would call “a misunderstanding.” Years afterward, the Army conducted another investigation to make sure that Melissa Huntoon had indeed been properly compensated.

           She had been paid, but she lost Gratiot County’s first man in the Great War.

 

 

 

 

Above: The names of thirty Gratiot County Men who appear on the Gratiot County All Wars Memorial in Ithaca, Michigan.

   Welcome to “Thirty Who Dared to Serve Gratiot County in the Great War.” It is very possible that you may be the only person who will read this article (or any of the thirty to follow) regarding those men from Gratiot County who died in World War I.

    I have spent roughly the last two years looking at these names and doing the research in an attempt to bring these thirty men’s stories back to life. What you will find here is hopefully a little more than just what newspapers from that time tell us. Still, these men still do not have the full recognition for their service and the ultimate sacrifice. They were people who lived here a century ago. They lived life, they had dreams, many had families. In all of their cases, they failed to get what I did, which is chance to live out their lives.

   The first few stories will be somewhat slow in coming to you. Why is that? It is hoped that each of these stories will appear at or near the time of the anniversary (in this case the centennial) of their deaths. By next summer, because some of these men died in combat in the summer and fall of 1918, you will find stories appearing quite frequently. In between, I hope to have stories for you regarding what was going on in Gratiot County, aside from the current “Gratiot County in the Great War” series that appears monthly. (I also want to note that “Journeys with a Gratiot Cemeterian” is going to be back – watch for it)

   As in war, these thirty stories are moving, sad, inspirational, even daring (hence the title). Some of these men wanted to serve in battle and never got there. Some died in the Influenza Epidemic. Several died fighting in France. Other stories appear unbelievable, like Gratiot County’s only Naval fatality which may have taken place in the Bermuda Triangle. Another tragedy occurred with a boy who literally went to war -at barely the age of sixteen- and who died in France. A few others died literally after the Armistice was signed, examples of how war can continue to claim its victims.

    So, again, you might be the only person who reads these stories. But, these thirty men that you read about in the next 14+ months deserve to have their stories told and they should not experience “the Second Death,” which is the death of being forgotten.

   I hope you find the stories meaningful. As with all research and writing, frequently there is someone who knows something more about a veteran. Please let me know and I hope we can more fully honor these men with more information.

    So, to start the series, we meet a man who was named Frank E. Huntoon who was from Bridgeville and St. Louis, Michigan.

 

Above: Headlines from news articles in December issues of the Gratiot County Herald.

          In December 1917 Gratiot County experienced its first Christmas during World War I. The Red Cross encouraged people to show their support by hanging a Red Cross banner from their Christmas wreaths. On Christmas Eve, special Christmas candles appeared in many windows and illuminated Red Cross emblems. Church bells in several towns on Christmas Eve chimed each half hour. Earlier in the month a “Fete Patriotique,” a drama performed by local volunteers, was held at the Ithaca Opera House and it raised $68.75 for the Ithaca Red Cross Chapter. Among the many things that the Ithaca Branch completed that month included 37 sweaters, 30 scarfs, 22 helmets, 49 pairs of wristlets and 3 French caps. With a membership of 4500 in Gratiot County, the Red Cross planned a new drive for more members in each township in the county. To help with this, Red Cross booths could be found in stores in Ithaca, Alma, St. Louis, Breckenridge, Middleton and Ashley.

          A county fundraising in December involved the sale of Thrift Stamps. If individuals did not have money to buy Liberty Bonds, they could afford to invest in stamps. Francis King and H.M. Dunham of Alma volunteered to head this campaign. Thrift Stamps cost only 25 cents and when a person had enough of them they could exchange them for a $5 war bond. The bonds had another benefit in that they earned four percent interest and would be good until January 1, 1923. The only downside to buying the stamps was that no person could buy more than $100 in stamps at a time and they could not own more than $1000 worth of them. The government planned that the sale of these stamps would add two billion dollars to the war fund by January 1919.

          News articles and letters told how young men stationed in military camps came home for visits, or who had seen action in France. Walter Young of Ithaca described life at Fort Douglas, Arizona. He, like Sergeant Dallas Brock from Alma, told readers about the great Thanksgiving dinners that they had enjoyed. Brock even said some of the soldiers had their mothers, sisters or sweethearts with them at Fort Custer for Thanksgiving. Orrin Riker, later Ithaca’s first soldier to die in the war, described army life at Camp Hattiesburg, Mississippi. One of the boys who came home to Gratiot County for furloughs included Private Alfred Rhodes of Alma. Lester McAllister, “Speed” Narrance, Lester von Thurn and John A. McAuley, all former Alma College students, described military life at their camps. Gratiot County also began hearing reports about one of its clergymen who volunteered to go with the boys to France. Father John A. Mulvey, from Alma’s St. Mary’s Church, carried out his duties with the 228th Division at Fort Custer. Probably one of the most moving stories to appear in newspapers dealt with Thomas Arnold Robinson of Alma, who had spent six months on the frontlines with the French Army and who had now returned home. After being reunited with his family he signed up to serve Uncle Sam as an aviator. During the war, he served in places like the Vosges Mountains, Verdun, and the St. Mihiel sector.

        Other news from Gratiot men already in Europe was sometimes grim. Captain M.F. Devereaux, a boy from Newark Township, had enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1916 and wrote from a dugout located 1 ½ miles from the German lines. One of his worst memories happened when he tried to find his comrades who had died in combat the night before. When Devereaux returned on patrol the next morning to retrieve the remains of a soldier, there was almost nothing left of him as a result of the shelling that took place. Gil Spencer wrote a letter as one of the first Americans in France with the 9th Infantry. He fought with the French Army and tried to recover from injuries suffered when his weapon accidentally discharged. A Mrs. Foust in Ithaca received a letter from her brother, who fought with the British Army. He had been wounded and had to be sent to a hospital in Bath, England. While the treatment there was excellent, he described being moved from the front. Other stories described how the Germans often set traps for Allied soldiers in trench warfare by preying on souvenir hunters. Innocent piles of German valuables and belongings were secretly rigged with explosives to kill or maim its victims. Also, German soldiers often played dead on the field of battle to shoot Allied soldiers from behind.

         Those Gratiot men who had previously avoided the draft got some sobering news in early December. Under new rules, all exemptions could be repealed, and all men now had to fill out new questionnaires. Men had until December 15 to turn in the paper or they would be listed as a slacker and forfeit any rights to an exemption. Even if a formerly exempted man had moved to a new address, it was his obligation to fill out and return the document to the draft board. In Ithaca, Alma and St. Louis lawyers were available a selected times to advise men on how to fill out the papers. For nearly three weeks, the Gratiot County draft board called in five percent of the men each day. Still, it would take sixty days to get through all of the questionnaires.

        Other wartime events continued to take place in the county. The YMCA planned banquets and programs to promote its plans for keeping Army life “clean.” The Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense warned readers that the real reason why America fought was that Germany denied America freedom of the seas, that it despised our army and that Americans would pay to reconstruct a victorious Germany. It also spoke of a theme that continued in 1918 – Germany was plotting in our midst. If America did not fight, it would suffer the same shame, horror, butchery, and rape by the Germans that France and Belgium had already suffered.

         Two wireless outfits had been confiscated in Alma. Because they were small and had only a small range, the government deemed them to be unimportant. Still, local authorities kept track of anyone buying them and sought to find how they operated. President Wilson announced that the railroads would be under federal control by the end of the month. The President promised that all equipment would be taken care of and returned to private ownership after the war, all in good condition. People were still encouraged to help the local tobacco fund. For only a quarter, a “package of comfort” could be sent to France and offered a quality of tobacco that no American soldier could find over there. The choices included Bull Durham, Lucky Strike or Tuxedo pipe tobacco. Each packet contained a stamped postcard that told a soldier who sent the tobacco.

              Finally, food was a part of the nation’s efforts to support the war, even in the cold of December. Michigan was supposed to be getting 40 county agricultural agents to help counties to improve food production in 1918. It was not clear if Gratiot would get one or not. Bread rules appeared for merchants and bakers. Sugar prices were capped and bakeries, hotels, and restaurants were limited to how much flour they could use each month. Price gouging was forbidden and weight limits were put on the sizes of bread loaves, as well as how much sugar could be used with each barrel of flour. Pure lard for making bread became blacklisted. The government hoped that bread prices would come down and a cheaper bread would be produced in Michigan. Recipes started to appear in the Gratiot County Herald which told housewives how to engage in “War Pie Conservation.” A way to do this included the use of the “None Such” Mincemeat pie ingredient which saved meat, flour, shortening, labor, and money. The Home Lunch Restaurant in Alma offered Christmas dinner to patrons, but it commented, “Let us eat and know that we are getting value received for our money. We owe it to our GOVERNMENT to live as cheaply as possible.” The restaurant served Duck dinners as a specialty.

Copyright 2017 James M Goodspeed

Above: Newspaper advertisements from the Alma Record and Gratiot County Herald, November, 1917.

       In late 1917, Gratiot County’s commitment to supporting its boys in the Great War continued. The Second Liberty Loan drive in the county proved to be another success. Gratiot was responsible for raising $715,200 in Liberty Bonds. Committees in each community were formed and recruited people to do their part. Ithaca aimed for $50,000 and appointed recruiters in all four of its wards. Advertisements urged that “To meet Gratiot’s quota, $25 worth of bonds is required for every man, woman, and child in the county. Let us not be slackers.” In the end, Gratiot County fell well below its goal (as did several other mid-Michigan counties), but Isabella County was above its target. The Republic Truck Company was the biggest subscriber and it bought $30,000 worth of bonds. At the same time in Ithaca, Francis Kellogg purchased $600 worth of bonds while J.L. Barden bought his share with $200. There would be even more bond drives in the county during and after the war.

       Better results in raising money took place in November regarding the YMCA. General John Pershing proclaimed to Americans that “You must have the YMCA to win the war.” The Young Men’s Christian Association offered various resources for soldiers at each camp and it would continue with the men as they went to Europe. At Fort Custer, supporters of the YMCA told how it was “a place for homesick boys to hear music and play games and read.” Families who went there also found a nice place where they could meet and visit. Former Alma Doctor Cyrus B. Gardner, now a Lieutenant at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, wrote a lengthy letter for publication that explained what he saw and experienced at the YMCA. He concluded that the YMCA “takes the place of home and church, and even the school.”

         With more American boys headed to France, Gratiot County was told that it needed to raise $10,000 for support – all within a week! Meetings were held in nearly every township, often with a public speaker to help gain public support. Advocates for the YMCA said that this drive “(was) the greatest movement before the American people today for it means home comforts and clean lives for the boys.” In Ithaca and Alma, Lieutenant T.A. Loughery, a Canadian soldier who was wounded at Vimy Ridge, France, was one of the key speakers.  Some of the smallest places in the county also had similar meetings. Locations like Rathbone, Sickels, Sethton, New Haven Center, Pompeii and Beebe had “Round Up Evenings,” all in the hope that Gratiot County would pledge and even raise more than their assigned amount. Support for the drive came from all walks of Gratiot’s society. Students at Alma College gave $1665, which was remarkable since only a few hundred students attended the college at that time. School teachers in Ithaca pledge $100. Ithaca students became involved as well. Each of Ithaca High School’s classes raised a minimum of $10 per grade (the school would ultimately raise $249.62). At Perrinton High School, students in the junior high gave $4 and also sold bottles, rubber, tin foil, rags, and magazines in order to also raise money. At the end of the week, Gratiot County had indeed gone “over the top” with this drive by raising upward of $15,000! Canvassers were praised by local newspapers who noted that they had sacrificed their time “and generally (had) found few slackers” who refused to pledge support.

     The Gratiot County Red Cross also continued its work in helping Gratiot County’s soldiers. At one point a call from the Gratiot County Herald urged more members to attend the work sessions in Ithaca. With a membership of almost 500, only 20 ladies showed up each week to knit. It was estimated that five times that amount was required in order to meet the needs of soldiers as winter approached. The ongoing need for socks, surgical dressings, and garments compelled members to complete as many articles as possible to get them to camps like Camp Custer by Christmas. For instance, a box of surgical dressings could quickly be used by one surgeon for one injured soldier, therefore, more were needed. Instructions were issued by the Red Cross for making knitted socks with a semi-double heel and a “Kitchener” toe design. Once completed, volunteers needed to wash each pair with Lux soap, keeping the foot fashioned down to stop shrinkage.

     More patriotic pressure was placed upon Gratiot County women regarding food conservation. They were encouraged to sign “Hoover Pledge Cards” and to give them to John T. Matthews, Gratiot County’s Food Conservation Chairman, in Ithaca. This program reminded women that “The people of the country have a moral duty to perform, and a patriotic duty also to perform.” The county kept track of all of those who promised to conserve food for the war effort through these cards. Public places got into food conservation. The Republic Restaurant in Alma advertised Tuesday as meatless day (only serving fish, macaroni with cheese and eggs) and Wednesday as a wheatless day (by serving rye, cornbread, and muffins). “Milkless days” had not been scheduled yet in Gratiot County, however, milk was becoming scarce in some places like Alma. All of the food conservation efforts were promoted as ways to assist the Sammies in their fight to defend liberty.

     More Gratiot men continued to be called into military service. By the middle of November, 200 more men appeared before the draft board. A total of 82 men and 5 alternates were chosen and within a week they were sent to Fort Custer. On the early morning that they departed the mood of the group was described as being “in high spirits.” As they left, each man was given a housewife kit complete with buttons, needles, and thread, courtesy of the Republic Motor Truck Company. Red Cross girls and ladies handed out the kits. However, the Alma Record castigated readers the next day for the poor public turnout that took place at the depot. It turned out that the few dozen supporters who showed up consisted largely of family members of those headed to Battle Creek. Even though some people attempted to advertise the need for public support for this goodbye, the Record lamented that “because of lack of (public) cooperation, the sendoff fell flat.” The question was asked, “Were too many Gratiot County residents more worried about making a living than in showing support for those who were placing their lives on the altar of patriotism?”

     Individual stories were received and printed in newspapers from those men who either were on their way to Fort Custer, who had been promoted, or who were headed to France. Robert Sawyer of Ithaca received a surprise send-off and a gift of a new fountain pen, courtesy of the “Goodfellow Club” in town. Lyle Smith from Perrinton quickly married his wife, the former Susie Fraker, and then had to leave for the Army. However, over 200 people from Perrinton met at the village hall in order to honor Smith, along with Elmer Fessler and Guy Baker, who had all been drafted. Lyle Smith would be one of Gratiot County’s men who later died in France in the summer of 1918. Three Alma College men were all given commissions at Fort Sheridan: Ralph Henning, Maurice Cole and John A. McAuley. Henning and Cole had attended the college; McAuley was an Alma College graduate. Howard Burchard was the first Ithaca boy to arrive in France as a gunner on a merchant ship. His letter home came approximately two weeks after he left the United States. Seven other Ithaca boys were on a convoy that was one day from arriving in France, but for some reason, the ship then turned around and came back. Another piece of news was not so good. Frederick J. Hagen of Breckenridge deserted his division at Camp Custer after being there less than one month. He was soon located and taken back to face trial. Hagen, originally a farmer, was then sentenced to ten years imprisonment at Fort Leavenworth, was dishonorably discharged, and forfeited all of his pay.

     Finally, those sending things to soldiers in France were now told that their packages that they sent could not weigh more than seven pounds. Little gifts and “eats” could be packed and as an example a group of Elwell women, led by Mrs. William Shong, all sent Christmas gifts to men at Camp Custer. An anonymous letter appeared in the Gratiot County Herald telling people that not all soldiers wanted to receive tobacco and some soldiers believed smoking to be unhealthy.  The ongoing, serialized story of “‘Over There’: The Thrill and the Hell of the Trenches, Described by an American Boy” had a large readership. Sergeant Alexander McClintock was from Kentucky and he had served in the Canadian Army.  His experience of being at war, his recovery after the Battle of the Somme (after being wounded with 22 pieces of shrapnel in one leg)  was the last of a six-part episode that appeared in the Gratiot County Herald.

Copyright 2017 James M. Goodspeed

Above: D.C. Furgason, somewhere in the Mediterranean Theater; on the day he left for the service on March 25, 1943; as a young boy at Furgason’s Store, east of Ithaca.

I was standing in a cemetery in Nettuno, Italy when I was struck with the loss of American life at a place in 1944 called the Anzio Beach Head. The Sicily-Rome Cemetery is one of many operated under the care of the American Battle Monuments Commission. The job of ABMC is to care for the graves of men and women who died in service to the United States and who remain buried overseas.  Unfortunately, for many of these men and women they are threatened with being forgotten.

During July, 2016, I was with a group of teachers who traveled under a program called “Understanding Sacrifice” that was sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission and National History Day. For almost one school year each of us researched one American who died during World War II and who was buried in one of four cemeteries in either North Africa, Italy or Southeast France. The man I chose, Raymond Wittbrodt from Flint, Michigan, was buried in the Sicily-Rome Cemetery. Although I was able to track down some of his family, found his grave and wrote a  biography about him and his unit (Wittbrodt served with 1^st Special Service Forces), I was unable to figure out exactly where or when he died. There was much about him that remained unknown and unsolved even though he died somewhere on the Anzio Beach Head.

My maternal grandfather had also been at Anzio, albeit as one who worked on the Beach Head as an engineer. When I returned to my hotel in Rome on that night in July I was actually angry that I had been unable to learn about Wittbrodt’s death. Up until that night I really had not seriously thought about the first Ithaca man who also died there: David Chauncy Furgason, Jr. Although I carried the story with me during that year of research, I really had not given him serious research.

By using the information that I had with me in the hotel I was actually able to locate some of his family through Ancestry.com. With some luck, I actually talked to one of them that night from my hotel in Rome. What I learned encouraged me to set up a visit with them when I returned home in August.

Prior to all of this, I first learned about D.C. from one of his classmates, Mrs. Lois Barden, who graduated with him in the Ithaca High School Class of 1941. She remembered a small, thin boy who had reddish hair. She also remembered Furgason’s Store which was operated by his parents just east of Ithaca, along the curving road that came into town. Lois was also the first to tell me that D.C. tragically had an early premonition that his life would be shortlived. Indeed, D.C. was killed somewhere on the Anzio Beach Head.

Now, if you want a biography of D.C. Furgason, you need to pick up the November 8 issue of the Gratiot County Herald.

When I met in August 2016 with D.C.’s niece, Carolyn, she added to my knowledge of this young man who was talented, young, and likable. He was a gifted poet and writer. And on January 27, 1944, he was gone.

It was Furgason’s death and his return to Gratiot County that told me even more about him. Only eight days before he died he mailed his last letter home to his parents. He had also spent only five days in combat. On March 13, 1944, he was awarded the Purple Heart (which I got to see). Also, a memorial service that month was held in Wheeler where 200 people attended the service for four area men who had recently been killed in the war.

Furgason’s Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) told a familiar story about how some of Gratiot County’s dead from World War II made their way back home. It was hard for families. It took time. Laying these men to rest in the county reopened old wounds and renewed grief.

Initially, Furgason was buried in Plot B, Row 9, Grave #252 in the Sicily-Rome Cemetery.  About two months after his death, his father wrote to have his few belongings sent back home. It was July 1944 before nine of these things arrived in Ithaca. The family was also given the remaining money that D.C. had with him at the time: a total of $11.36. In 1947, the Furgason family was sent a picture of the newly constructed cemetery at Nettuno.

Within two years of the end of the war, American families were given the chance to have their loved one sent home for burial. The Furgasons did not hesitate as they wanted their son to rest in Gratiot County. The initial process of bringing D.C. home started in late March 1948 with a request from the Furgasons to have him disinterred. On August 10, 1948, Train #51 from the Ann Arbor Railroad arrived in Ithaca. Three days later, on a Sunday afternoon, a funeral service was held for D.C. Furgason at the Sowers Methodist Church. Afterward, he was laid to rest in Breckenridge’s Ridge Lawn Cemetery. Reverend Don Warmouth, who met D.C. in Italy a short time before he died, helped to officiate the funeral.

D.C. Furgason was one of 130 Gratiot County men from World War II who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we have today. Each of these men is a story. On Veterans Day we owe them, as well as our many living veterans in Gratiot County, as debt of thanks for their service.

 

Above: Craig Morrison, 1st Cavalry Divison, Iraq, 2006

Craig Morrison once decided that he was unhappy with his job and that he needed a career change. In late 2004, he entered the Mt. Pleasant Army Recruiter’s office and within a short time he left for basic training – at the age of 33.

Morrison, a 1990 Fulton High School graduate, was also married with children. Recalling his decision to enter the Army at that time he said, “The pay was good and I needed a change in career. I was not happy with my job. I had tried to go back to school and study with online classes and this was all very hard.” There was also a key benefit for serving the country, free health care. He could later say with confidence, “They (the military) take care of you.”

Under the Delayed Entry Program he signed the papers in September, 2004 and he left for basic training on January 5, 2005.  Only four weeks into basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia he pulled two hamstrings, but was able to come home for 30 days. The downside of the injuries meant that he returned just in time to watch his unit graduate. After being in physical therapy for two months, he then had to go back and take his basic training over again.

His next assignment took him to Fort Gordon, Georgia where he took communication work through Advanced Individual Training. His training enabled him to work with computers, radios, antennas and cables. He eventually specialized in working on radios for tanks, Humvees and hand held radios. As this went on, Craig adjusted to the regimen and structure of military life. “It was fun. I later missed the heck out of it,” he now remembers.

By January, 2006 Morrison moved to his permanent duty station at Fort Hood, Texas. A month later, his wife and family moved there to be with him. Then came his deployment to Iraq that fall. On the day he left, his wife, Kristina, returned home to find that it had been broken into and vandalized. Before he flew to Iraq, he made a final call home from Maine and his wife gave him the bad news. There was nothing he could do to help her. However, his commanding officer made contact with individuals at Fort Hood who went to help his wife. After this, Kristina decided to bring the family back home to mid-Michigan. It was one of several moves that she made during her husband’s time in the service.

Morrison soon became assigned to the 1^st Cavalry Division, 15 PSB (Personal Services Brigade), which was part of the 15 SB (Sustainment Battalion). In October, 2006 he arrived in Kuwait, then he was sent to Baghdad, serving as a replacement for 14-15 months. Upon entering the city Morrison thought then that “We had no idea where we were at.” Before landing, the plane he was on did a combat dive, a sudden aerial maneuver used to deter the enemy from shooting at American planes when they landed. Craig’s ears hurt for more than one day, but eventually the pain subsided. His base was located on the outskirts of Baghdad and it was fortunate that this unit only left the base via helicopter and did not have to do combat or patrol. During his deployment to Iraq, he never had to fire his weapon.

Morrison was stationed at the Victory Base Complex, which was made up of four or five connected bases. Signal Hill, the large tower at the base, was a target that the enemy often aimed for. On December 7, 2006, Signal Hill was hit for the first time in its then two year history. Indirect fire often occurred during Craig’s deployment, mainly during the day, but sometimes at night.

Life on the base became tolerable for him in his spare time partly due to his wife’s willingness to burn shows on DVDs and mail them to him. He received a package from her every few weeks and men in his unit often found their way to Morrison’s room to watch the shows. Other things to do included watching “bootleg” DVD movies, which almost all Soldiers bought and viewed. There was a basketball court and tennis courts on the base. Dial up internet was used to communicate with home, but the quality was often poor. Contact with TCN’s (“Third Country Nationals”) from a variety of different countries regularly took place. These individuals held jobs on the base like cleaning barracks, running the PX, taking care of trash or working at the nearby Burger King.

Morrison’s Army career took a big change in Iraq when he injured his back. He tried to deal with the pain through prescribed meds, but the pain only increased and got worse. Finally, his unit sent him to accompany another soldier to Germany. While there, Morrison received a MRI and a doctor told him he had two herniated disks. The doctor wondered how he could stand straight up, in addition to handling the pain. It was agreed that Morrison would be sent back to Iraq “on profile” to pick up his things and to make farewells. It was not easy to do and Morrison felt conflicted about his injury and his desire to stay in the Army in a combat zone.

After surgery at Fort Hood, Craig went through the “Med Boarding” process which was how he would have to leave the military. By 2008, Craig Morrison was out of the Army. He returned to Michigan and to the job he had at the Krapohl car dealership in Mt. Pleasant. The government promised that Soldiers would be able to return to the jobs they left behind when they joined up. After a while, Morrison moved to similar car dealership positions at Alma and in Ithaca (where he currently is employed).

Looking back at his Army career, Craig believes that if his health had been better he may have stayed in the Army and served twenty years. After some time at home, he eventually asked the Army Reserves and the National Guard about serving. Both turned him down due to the experience he had with his back.

Still, there are several things that he cannot forget, like losing a buddy in the combat zone, the smell of diesel fuel (which reminds him of Baghdad), and the image of seeing a severely injured female Soldier who was on the same flight he took to Germany. His analysis of his experience in the Army, as compared to many other Soldiers in the war zone, was that “My experience in Iraq overall was a much better one. I only served on one deployment – it was an experience. I came out better than I went in.”

I asked him what civilians today do not understand about the men and women who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. He shared his observations. First, many of those in the military go on multiple deployments to the war zone (not just one). When Morrison sees groups of soldiers together like he sometimes does at a nearby McDonalds, he sees less and less combat badges on their uniforms, meaning that most of these volunteer soldiers have not been in combat. Also, many returning soldiers return home with psychological damage that they have to deal with. Finally, in the combat zone, comradery is a real and genuine thing for soldiers.

Today, I remember those Gratiot County men and women who, like Craig Morrison, have faithfully served our county, our state and our nation. Many of these veterans from Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, Gulf War II, and Gulf War II deserve their recognition. Join me on the blog as we visit these periods from Gratiot County’s past.