Robert C. Murphy letter to Elizabeth C. Clarke - March 23, 1921
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[ROBT. C. MURPHY letterhead] Station Hospital, Camp Sherman, Ohio. March 23rd. 1921. Mt Dear Mrs. Clarke: I was very much surprised and deeply pained to receive the news that your son, Lt. Clarke had passed away. It seems hard to believe. I saw him last, at St. Nazaire in May 1919. At that time he seemed well as ever. We landed at St. Nazaire [January] 18th. 1918 and went to Camp No. I just outside the city. We were there four days in quarantine. Our barracks there were fairly comfortable but coal was so scarce that fires were only permitted certain hhours of the day. They were not permitted to be allowed to burn all day. The weather was not so cold but was very damp. I did not notice that your son had any trouble on the Mercury going over, but while we were at Camp No. I, he complained of a slight laryngitis. He said that he had had the same trouble before and that anticipating trouble he had brought some medicine with him. So he took this medicine which was some Creosote Compound and felt better. Then we mooved down to St. Maxient about 200 miles inland and were quartered in a huge stone barracks at the Air Service Concentration Barracks. This had been an old Monastery and the rooms were large, all stone, even stone floors. While here his
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[page 2] [ROBT. C. MURPHY letterhead] vities and dreaded the breaking up of the relations that we had all formed for each other in the 21st. Squadron. On January 30th. 1918, I was detached from the squadron and ordered to Base Hospital IOI at St. Nazaire for duty. I remained attached to that hospital then for all the rest of my stay in France. I left the hospita l several times on detached service but always reported back there for other assignments. After leaving St. Maxient, I corresponded with several of the officers including Powhaton for several months till we lost track of each other in the many mooves that the beginning of activity work in the American sector made necessary. I knew that he had gone to the hospital shortly after I left them ith a diagnosis of Chronic Bronchitis. I did not see him again till late in 1918 or early in 1919 when we ran across each other. We shook hands very cordially and talked there on the streets for about ten minutes and then separated for we were both on some hurry job. I invited him to our Officer
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[page 3] [ROBT. C. MURPHY letterhead] the USPHS till last December, when I entered the army again after passing the October examination. If I can be of any assistance to
Details
| Title | Robert C. Murphy letter to Elizabeth C. Clarke - March 23, 1921 |
| Creator | Murphy, Robert C. |
| Source | Murphy, Robert C. Letter to Elizabeth C. Clarke. 23 March 1921. 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 her son |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Medical Care; World War, 1914-1918--Chemical Warfare; Gas; Tuberculosis; World War, 1914-1918--Aerial operations, American; Camp Sherman (Ohio) |
| 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 | March 23, 1921 |
| Language | English |