Edwin B. Babbit letter to Mrs. Elizabeth C. Clarke - June 2, 1917
Transcript
[War Department letterhead] EBB/brb June 2, 1917. Mrs. Powhatan H. Clarke, The Buckingham Annex, St. Louis [Missouri] My dear Mrs. Clarke: I enclose herewith a memorandum from Colonel Saltzman which is a brief answer to your last letter of the 27th ultimo. You see he is launched on his military career but will have to go through a bit of training to better qualify for the final work on the aviation field. While at the university I imagine he will be near enough to you to be seen occasionally. I enjoyed more that I can tell the brief visit I had with him. I regret that the very busy life at present made it impossible to see you as was my wish. Mrs. Babbitt as you know is quite an invalid and cannot get about without taking her in the motor. She was unable in my absence to get to you. I trust that the boy will always keep in touch with me and you may rest assured that anything I can do for you or him at any time will be a pleasure. Very sincerely and cordially yours, Edwin Babbitt 1 Enc. Please forgive a type written letter. Personal correspondence has to suffer these days.
Transcript
[War Department letterhead] June 1, 1917. MEMORANDUM for Colonel Babbitt: Referring to your inquiry last night, Powhatan Clark has been designated to attend the ground training school at the University of Illinois, and the orders have no doubt already reached him directing him to proceed there for this preliminary training before taking up his active actual flying training. This is the present procedure to have each candidate take a preliminary course of ground training before undertaking the actual flying training [signature] Lieut. Col., Signal Corps
Details
| Title | Edwin B. Babbit letter to Mrs. Elizabeth C. Clarke - June 2, 1917 |
| Creator | Babbitt, Edwin B. |
| Source | Babbitt, Edwin B. Letter to Elizabeth C. Clarke. 02 June 1917. Clarke Family Manuscript Collection, 1540-1926. DOC MSS 30. Saint Louis University Library and Special Collections, St. Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Powhatan Hughes Clarke served with the 21st Aero Squadron and the Labor Bureau A.E.F. during World War I. He died from tuberculosis August 20, 1920. Clarke's mother, Elizabeth Clemens Clarke, corresponded with his friends and acquaintances to determine if her son had contracted tuberculosis while serving in the military. Mrs. Clarke also corresponded with the doctors who attended her son in his last illness, apparently convinced that he had not received proper treatment. In this letter, Edwin Babbitt explained the flight training that Clarke had to complete and enclosed a note from Col. Salzman that detailed this training. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Medical Care; World War, 1914-1918--Chemical Warfare; Gas; Tuberculosis; World War, 1914-1918--Aerial operations, American; Military training |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | DOC MSS 30 |
| Contributing Institution | Saint Louis University Library and Special Collections |
| Copy Request | Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Please contact the Saint Louis University Archives for details at 314-977-5516, or tachee@slu.edu. |
| Rights | Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Please contact the Saint Louis University Archives for details at 314-977-5516, or tachee@slu.edu. |
| Date Original | June 1, 1917 |
| Language | English |