Camp Willis, O,
July 31, 1916
My Dear Mother -
I certainly had a good time Sunday when Uncle Tom was down.The feed he brought was great. I had my three meals out of it today and have some for tomorrow.
I guess he was all-in when evening came. There was a nice breeze all day but it was hotter than H---. The only thing that saved him was the thought of the fact that my woolen clothes were much better than his.
When I was coming home from the station, I met a man & his wife named Whitker. they knew Rev. Reeder of Toledo & Mrs. Phoebe Curtis. He said he had been on programmes with Mrs. Curtis. I showed them the camp by night and took them back to the car.
Received a letter from Ruth Felt Saturday. She is the same old girl.
(Same letter, continued)
August 2, 1916
At last I've formed time to finish my letter.
Everything was quiet & nice, with a few dark clouds in the north when suddenly the wind started to blow about 100 miles per.
The dust which was an inch thick on the ground made it impossible to see a thing. About 500 tents were blown down, blankets, clothes, hats & personals were scattered for miles. Many things were found at least three miles from where they started. All of our company were at Col.at the ball game.
Only a few were at camp who did not care to go to the game. I was one at camp.
We managed to save all our own tents but two. I did not lose a thing & nothing of mine got wet or damaged.
One of the 2nd Field Hospital's men came around a corner of a building when the wind picked up and then threw him about 40 ft. against a building and knocked him senseless. About an hour later after the storm we found him there under a pile of debris. He's able to be around now. The wind took the roofs off the mess shacks & sure made some awful mess to clean up afterward. Everything was mixed up and many fellows lost everything they had.
Lightning struck several tents and burned them up. Four small circus tents used by the Army Y.M.C.A. were totally destroyed.
In one park uptown, over 75 trees were blown over, according to papers. It blew tops of street cars off & near camp where the land is high it carried about all the chimneys down.
I was not hurt, but am pretty sore in the back from tugging at tent ropes, etc. It rained for an hour after the wind so hard that the mud was nearly a foot deep.
I rec. your letter this A.M. I seem to stand the heat alright and feel better now than at any time since arriving here.
Love to all
Howard
Rec Marion's and Dad's letters also.
The above photo from the Upper Arlington, Ohio archives depicts soldiers of the 4th regiment and the tents to which Howard alluded. In spring 1916, President Woodrow Wilson called for the mobilization of the Ohio National Guard to assist in a campaign to seek and punish Pancho Villa for a raid in Columbus, New Mexico. At that time, Upper Arlington was a newly formed city, which was completely taken over when 8,000 National Guard troops used Camp Willis as a place to prepare for the protection of the U.S./Mexico border.
Although we don't know exactly when Howard arrived at Camp Willis, the camp was not ready to receive the Ohio Guard until June 27, 1916. So, he could have been there for a as long as a month when he wrote the letter.
Howard mentions the company in "Col. at the ball game". Conveniently situated close to the city of Columbus, Upper Arlington offered two streetcars that provided easy access to the location at that time: one running to the intersection of Fifth and Upper Arlington Avenues and the other ending at Fishinger Road, just north of Griggs Dam. It's hard to say which ball game they saw exactly, but it likely could have been a Columbus Senators baseball game. Football teams (Ohio State and the professional Columbus Panhandles) would not begin their seasons until October.
The "Marion" referenced in the letter is Howard's sister. I could not find records of "Uncle Tom" - neither Howard's father John, nor his mother Effie, had any siblings with the first or middle names of Thomas.
Although we don't know exactly when Howard arrived at Camp Willis, the camp was not ready to receive the Ohio Guard until June 27, 1916. So, he could have been there for a as long as a month when he wrote the letter.
Howard mentions the company in "Col. at the ball game". Conveniently situated close to the city of Columbus, Upper Arlington offered two streetcars that provided easy access to the location at that time: one running to the intersection of Fifth and Upper Arlington Avenues and the other ending at Fishinger Road, just north of Griggs Dam. It's hard to say which ball game they saw exactly, but it likely could have been a Columbus Senators baseball game. Football teams (Ohio State and the professional Columbus Panhandles) would not begin their seasons until October.
The "Marion" referenced in the letter is Howard's sister. I could not find records of "Uncle Tom" - neither Howard's father John, nor his mother Effie, had any siblings with the first or middle names of Thomas.
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