Woodrow Wilson letter to Champ Clark - November 27, 1917
Transcript
Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. November 27, 1917. Hon. Champ Clark, Washington, D.C. Dear Speaker Clark: I thank you sincerely for the sentiment expressed in your kind letter. It is needless to say that the matter mentioned has given me the greatest concern and I have worried over it since I first learned of the condition found by the board and their report thereon. I have not seen the report of the board, but I understand they find that both of my lungs are affected. I talked personally with the tuberculosis expert who made one of the examinations and he quite frankly told me that while there was no positive evidence of tuberculosis, both my lungs were affected; that I was very susceptible to pneumonia and that if I ever took it, I would have no chance to recover. He said that if I should get wet and be unable to secure a change of clothing within a reasonable length of time, or be exposed to severe hardships in the field like cold, improper food, etc., it would go very hard with me; that if I were an enlisted man or a subordinate officer he would reject me instantly but that he did not know about the surroundings of a general officer in the field and could not say definitely what the policy would be. However, he said that I was not qualified for foreign service and doubted whether I ought to serve in the field in this country. He thought that I ought to live out doors more than I do, take a great deal of exercise and take two vacations each year. By so doing, he thought I might ultimately get all right. Some seven years ago I had a very severe attack of pleurisy with what is called an effusion. The doctors performed an operation which consisted of drawing about a quart of the accumulated fluid. I believe it is said that as a rule this condition indicates tuberculosis and the fluid so drawn was examined with a view to determining this fact. The examination disclosed that there were not tubercular germs. My physician was quite concerned about me and insisted that I go south until the cold weather was over. This I could not do at that time and I fought it out at home as best I could. It gave me considerable trouble for about a year. At the end of two years I was examined for additional life insurance and it was accepted. Occasionally I have had some little trouble; I have felt some pains in my chest and have been very susceptible to cold. While on a maneuver on the border last year I got very cold and felt considerable uneasiness in my lungs but said nothing about it. I have felt that I had recovered from the whole trouble as far as it is ever possible to do so after the fluid is withdrawn, although I knew that I was very susceptible to cold and have been rather careful in exposing my self in bad weather. I have not taken the amount of exercise I should take simply because I have not had time to do so.
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C.C. – 2 I feel quite sure that I do not have tuberculosis. I think it is true my lungs are affected somewhat as a result of the pleurisy and that under certain conditions this might give me trouble. I have never given the matter much consideration because I have always had so much to do that I did not have time for vacations, etc. When the call for service on the Mexican border came last year, I had been on crutches for two months with a badly sprained ankle which I had received in alighting from a train. Realizing that the army was no place for crutches, I threw them away the day I received the order, said nothing to the examining surgeon about it but gritted my teeth and stood the pain incident to the use of my foot and in a month or so it got all right. But this is not quite that sort of case. I think the examination was a fair one and it is quite clear it will disqualify me for service abroad. I have been in the National Guard for twenty-nine years, having enlisted when a young boy, and have commanded our troops for nineteen years. I was a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American war and have given the very best years of my life to the Guard, to the great neglect of my business. I love the service and it would be a strange thing if, after these long years of association I was not devotedly attached to an organization with which I had had much to do in organizing and maintaining. It was my ambition to go to the front in command of my own people, and frankly, I had rather be a captain of a Missouri company than the Commanding General of the United States Army. I have no desire to serve as a pensioner in some inconsequential capacity away from my own people. Of course, if it were a matter of duty that is another thing. But I apprehend that, being unable to go with our Guard, I would be given some unimportant assignment which could be filled by any one of a hundred thousand men of no military experience at all. General Berry sent me a copy of his endorsement on the report of my physical examination which was to the effect that he recommended that I be sent to the tuberculosis sanitarium at Deming, New Mexico. I returned the communication to him with the endorsement to the effect that I was deeply appreciative of his consideration but that I would not care to go there; that I realized that my lungs having been found defective I was disqualified from foreign service. I further stated that it occurred to me that inasmuch as the number of general officers was limited and the Government was entitled to the instant service of those who had been appointed, it was my duty to make way for the appointment of some one to take my place and that this I stood ready to do. I am satisfied that the General was actuated by kindly sentiments and that he felt that he was doing me a favor in making this recommendation. Last week the Division Commander received a telegram from the War Department informing him that a general board had been convened at Washington for the purpose of examining physically general officers of this Division and directing that such general officers obey any summons to appear for examination in Washington issued by General Arthur, president of the board. I take it that upon receipt of the examination in my case it was thought that I might contest the matter and for that reason it would
Transcript
C.C. – [3] be well to have me examined by a board of high rank so that its findings could not be open to criticism. Today I have an order to appear before the board in Washington at 10:00, December 3d. I will arrange to arrive on the 2d, writing you when I leave here. Under all the circumstances it seems to me that the only thing for me to do is to submit to the inevitable with good grace. As stated, I do not question that the condition found by the board exists. I expect I ought to take a little better care of myself than I have been doing and take more exercise and not work quite so hard. The latter will be difficult for me because it takes me about sixteen hours out of the twenty-four to keep my head above water. I appreciate more than I can tell you the sentiments expressed in your letter and I am deeply grateful for your manifestation of friendship. No man who lives is more loyal to his friends than I am and more grateful for their consideration. Bennett is getting along fine in every way. He is the very salt of the earth, I have never in my life known a young man whom I regarded so highly and to whom I became so much attached. I believe that the future has everything in store for him and if he wants it he can be Governor of Missouri when he returns from this service. With my kindest regards in which Mrs. Clark joins me and with the request that you remember us both to Mrs. Clark. Sincerely yours, [ms illegible: 1 wd]
Details
Title | Woodrow Wilson letter to Champ Clark - November 27, 1917 |
Creator | Unknown |
Source | Unknown. Letter to Champ Clark. 27 November 1917. Clark, Champ (1850-1921) and Bennett Champ (1890-1954), Papers, 1853-1973. C0666. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
Description | In this November 27, 1917 letter to Champ Clark, an unknown National Guardsman discussed his illness and disappointment at being unable to service foreign service. Champ Clark, a long-time resident of Bowling Green, Missouri, was a politician in the Democratic Party. He served as a representative of Missouri from 1893 to 1895 and from 1897 to 1921. From 1911 to 1919 he served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. |
Subject LCSH | Clark, Champ, 1850-1921; World War, 1914-1918--Political aspects--United States; Missouri. National Guard; Clark, Bennett Champ, 1890-1954 |
Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
Site Accession Number | C0666 |
Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
Date Original | November 27, 1917 |
Language | English |