{"id":7126,"date":"2018-05-12T22:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-12T22:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=7126"},"modified":"2018-05-31T13:51:58","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T13:51:58","slug":"from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-may-12-1918-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-may-12-1918-podcast","title":{"rendered":"From Camp Lee to the Great War: May 12, 1918 – Lester Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cI am going to send some money home before long. Maybe you can use it now to buy cows with. I only have two more months to pay my liberty bonds out in\u2026\u201d<\/h2>\n
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In his thirty-fourth 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, says he\u2019s been busy packing mule harnesses and drilling. He\u2019s qualified on gas mask school<\/a>. He refers to Minnie\u2019s \u201cnew separator\u201d [probably a cream separator, a common tool on dairy farms]. He says he\u2019ll be sending money how so Minnie can buy cows. He\u2019s paying on his liberty bonds and took out $5000.00 in insurance. He\u2019s ready to go overseas anytime.<\/p>\n

In this letter, Les asks Minnie if she knows what their father, Christopher Columbus Scott, meant in his May 10 letter, when he wrote, \u201cI was talking to Cleo Hewett and she says she is afraid she is left on you now.\u201d In response, Les wrote to Minnie, \u201cif you know what he meant about Cleo, he has me guessing.\u201d This happens to be the only instance in which we actually have a letter from home to pair with a soldier\u2019s letter. You can see a couple of photographs of Christopher and an image of his letter as well as the transcription below. His words are also included in the podcast. And he finally reveals the mysterious Cleo\u2019s surname. Look for a future podcast dedicated to Cleo and Les, coming May 23.<\/p>\n

The \u201cLiberty Bonds\u201d<\/a> Les refers to were sold to raise money for the war effort. Marketed as a patriotic duty, the bonds were essentially loans to the government that were to be repaid with interest added after a specified time had passed. Despite these efforts, U.S. debt grew to more than $25 billion by war\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on the same day, Julius Rosenberg<\/a>, who would be executed\u00a0along with his wife Ethel 35 years later as Soviet spies, was born in New York City.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cA,\u201d 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his thirty-fourth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, May 12, 1918.
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To listen to the podcast, visit our SoundCloud page<\/a>, or subscribe through your favorite podcast app.<\/p>\n

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May 12, 1918 Letter \u2013 Lester Scott to his sister, Minnie Riggle<\/h2>\n
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\"May<\/a>
Letter to Minnie Riggle from Lester Scott, May 12, 1918.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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May 10, 1918 Letter to Lester Scott from his father, Christopher Columbus Scott<\/h3>\n
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