From Camp Lee to the Great War: Episode 37 [March 9, 1918]

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott & Charles Riggle

"Boss I am a little mad this evening. Just had a quarrel on politics. A fellow said he had no use for a darn Democrat. It made my blood boil..." In his twenty-eighth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes that he thinks the troops will be "going over before long." They'll be keeping their mules and adding more mules and more men. Les is upset because he's had a quarrel on politics. Elsewhere on the same day, the British launched a daylight bombardment of the German manufacturing city of Mainz and mystery writer Mickey Spillane was born in Brooklyn, New York Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his twenty-eighth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, March 9, 1918. Digital scans and a transcript of Lester Scott's March 9, 1918 letter can be viewed at: http://www.archivingwheeling.org/blog/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-march-9-1918-podcast Credits: "From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle" is brought to you by http://archivingwheeling.org in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org) and the WALS Foundation (http://walswheeling.com). Jeremy Richter is the voice of Lester Scott. The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle were transcribed by Jon-Erik Gilot. This podcast was edited and written by Sean Duffy, audio edited by Erin Rothenbuehler. Music: "Bugle Call Rag," Metropolitan Military Band, 1915, courtesy Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035785/