C.N. McDonald letter to Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley #16 - n.d.
Transcript
16 [Company E-6, 6th Regiment] Camp Perry Great Lakes [Illinois] Dr. [Henry Milton] Whelpley, St. Louis, [Missouri] Dear Doctor: You asked for something of a pharmacists life at Great Lakes, and I’ll give you a two-dose-series. Detention We were herded into the Station on a hot August day to the yells of “You’ll like it”, “Got any cigarettes,” “Wait till you get your first shot”. After identification we were loaded down with a mattress and 2 heavy blankets and marched around the rest of the afternoon.
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[first two lines of pages are glued together] clothes for a shot. We lined up-each one “September afternoon” – and a Hospital Apprentice gave us an intra-muscular injection where a “hypo” was called for. While we were looking over our shoulder at the H.A. so we would know him if we ever caught him outside another scarified and rubbed glycerine vaccine over an area exactly the size of a dollar. Next day we were taken to the fastest clothing store in existance. Right there I discovered why Jews love the Navy so – the clothes come
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[first two lines of pages are glued together] free. As you march past a given point, a man who, must have been an expert discus thrower in college, scalps you with a pair of shoes two sizes larger than you asked for; six feet further on, a man, who was evidently a cowboy in civil life, looked at your stomach and promptly deluged you with: 2 suits (blue) 2 suits (white) - bathing trunks, 4 suits underware, 2 towels - 6 pairs sox. From behind a flat hat and 2 white ones were jammed onto your head with pile driver force – and you stepped into the hot August
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[first two lines of pages are glued together] that out of the entire bagful of clothes, the towels and handkerchiefs alone fitted you. Further search of your seabag revealed, however, scissors, needle and thread. That night, you are marched onto the drill field where you listen to the snappiest sermon you’ve ever listened to. It starts something like “Now if any of you boys enlisted with the intention of having a hell of a time you’ll soon learn that you will have one HELL of a time. The Marine Corps enlisted men with the promise
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[first two lines of pages are glued together] made good Chateau Thierry. The Navy promises “Join the Navy and learn a trade” – and makes good in the following way: you are issued a trusty long-handled shovel, led into a deep ravine where there is a quantity of that material well known to small folks and motor tourists as “Mud” – and you are promptly taught the “trade” of shoveler. You are, also, taught the art of scrubbing and of carrying lumber on your shoulder. To kick is your privileges,
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[first two lines of pages are glued together] before detention is up, you’ll see these selfsame ”workless” men under a cold shower and carefully pinching a bulging hardening muscle, where as a month before the only anatomical growth in which they were interested was a “kiyi” mustache. As night falls by common consent, every one turns to the YMCA where the evening is spent in writing, checkers, teaching the piano how to take a joke and etc. this is what a pharmacist as well as anyone else does in detention. At the outset
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[first two lines of pages are glued together] I was detailed to a dispensing counter. (Im sorry to say I failed to receive the MBD you spoke of sending. I’m sure you know that I am a very staunch friend of the MBD. With every good wish for your personal welfare and the success of your publication, I am,) Sincerely yours CN McDonald Co E-6, - 6 [Regiment] Camp Perry, Great Lakes, [Illinois]
Details
| Title | C.N. McDonald letter to Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley #16 - n.d. |
| Creator | McDonald, C.N. |
| Source | McDonald, C.N. Letter to Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley #16. n.d. Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley Collection, 1826-1929. A1737. Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | C.N. McDonald sent this letter to Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley. Dr. Whelpley was the dean of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and editor of the Meyer Brothers Druggist magazine. In this letter, McDonald described his experience as a new recruit in the Navy. He talked about getting his supplies, vaccination, kitchen duty, etc. This letter is written on American Y.M.C.A. letterhead. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918; World War, 1914-1918--Equipment and supplies; Great Lakes Naval Training Center (Great Lakes, Ill.) |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | A1737 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| 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. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | n.d. |
| Language | English |