Hell's Observer: The Epic Wartime Journal of Private William J. Graham, American Expeditionary Forces - Couverture souple

Graham, Pvt. William J.; Jarvis, Bruce A.; Badgley, C. Stephen

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0615620914 ISBN 13 : 9780615620916

Editeur : Badgley Publishing Company, 2012

Synopsis

WHAT WAS IT REALLY LIKE TO FIGHT AS AN AMERICAN DOUGHBOY? Lost and forgotten for over 90 years, this book is the result of one street-wise and peace-loving but fiercely patriotic American soldier who went well beyond the typical censored letters, pocket diaries , and post-war memoirs to help answer that question for future generations. Through a unique combination of skill, circumstance and strong personal motivation, Private William J. Graham (Company B, 103rd Military Police Battalion, 28th Division/First Army) delivers one of the most compelling, detailed, and true real-time eyewitness accounts of an American soldier’s W.W. 1 experience ever recorded and available in print now for the first time. Over four thousand miles from his home, family and work as a Philadelphia mounted policeman, thirty-nine year old William J. Graham found himself fighting as a detached field M.P. in war-devastated northern France as one of over two million men and women who made up the American Expeditionary Forces in the bloody latter half of 1918. Through his keen eyes and artful powers of description, it is not difficult to imagine yourself slogging through the muddy blood-spattered fields of the Western Front as the earth trembles and German shells scream overhead…where hunger, “cooties”, and death are constant companions. Private Graham’s uncensored journal of over 650 hand-written pages was penned by him not from memory while resting comfortably by a warm fire in a stuffed chair…but incredibly in France while the events he describes actually unfolded around him under raw filthy field conditions. Richly illustrated with over 300 rare original and previously unpublished images, this book gives readers an authentic and powerfully moving description of the horrific sights and emotions of Americans at war with the German “Hun” in the world’s first-ever global conflict. This work is of unique value to everyone but especially to the historian or student of the period , serving as an accurate and superbly detailed description of what many U.S. fighting men experienced “doing their bit” while struggling to survive yet another day…”Somewhere in France”!

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

William James Graham was born on November 30th, 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to William and Margaret (McAvoy) Graham. He was the youngest of six siblings (two boys and four girls). While still a toddler, his mother died prematurely in 1881 at age thirty-two of what would appear to be an illness or disease. His father also died within a year or so of his wife leaving young William an orphan at an early age. He was raised with his sisters and brother by his Irish-born maternal grandmother. Shortly after 1900, William joined the Philadelphia Police Department. Records show that he enlisted as a volunteer in the Pennsylvania National Guard on July 30, 1917. His physical description being 38 years and 8 months old, 5’ 10-1/2” in height, with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. In August of 1917, the Pennsylvania National Guard was nationalized as the twenty-eighth U.S. Infantry Division. They organized and trained at Camp Hancock, Georgia from August 1917 through April 1918. Private Graham likely left for France with the 28th Division in May of 1918 arriving in early June of that year. His unit was detached from the 28th Division on September 9th, 1918 and placed under the new First Army. Due to loss of military records in the National Personnel Records Center in a disastrous fire in 1973, it is difficult to confirm specific details of William Graham’s service record. However, his final pay voucher shows that he was discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey on September 15th, 1919. He was apparently transferred and promoted sometime after January 1919 as he is listed as being Mess Sergeant for the 282nd M.P. Company (Third Army) upon discharge. After the war, William resumed his career as a mounted Philadelphia policeman with the department of Public Safety. William J. Graham died of natural cause in Williamstown, New Jersey on December 22nd, 1940 at age sixty-two just 22 years after living through and documenting his great overseas adventure.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Badgley Publishing Company
• Date d'édition: 2012
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0615620914
• ISBN 13: 9780615620916
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 292
• Éditeur: Badgley C. Stephen, Jarvis Bruce A.
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible