{"id":7180,"date":"2018-05-23T14:53:04","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T14:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=7180"},"modified":"2018-05-25T04:56:11","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T04:56:11","slug":"from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-may-23-1918-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-may-23-1918-podcast","title":{"rendered":"From Camp Lee to the Great War: May 23, 1918 – Lester Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease write and tell Cleo Good Bye for me\u2026Well Boss, all I can say is, Good Bye and Good Luck\u2026\u201d<\/h2>\n
\n

In his thirty-sixth 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 weighs 172 pounds. Dutch is in good spirits and nearly as heavy as Les. The boys are in good spirits. He sends best regards to every one of his friends, to Minnie and Jim, to Dad, and to Cleo. It\u2019s clear that Les knows he\u2019s going to France soon. He tells Minnie she should not worry about him. He\u2019ll be alright. She will hear from him before too long.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on the same day, Arabs successfully attack the Ottoman Turks near Abu Naam, and the British armed mercantile cruiser \u201cMoldavia<\/a>\u201c, carrying American troops, was torpedoed and sunk, killing 56. Costa Rica declared war on Germany<\/a> in an effort to gain favor from Woodrow Wilson for its new leader who had taken power after a coup. The gesture was ineffective.<\/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-sixth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, May 23, 1918.<\/p>\n

To listen to the podcast, visit our SoundCloud page<\/a>, or subscribe through your favorite podcast app.<\/p>\n

\n

May 23, 1918 Letter \u2013 Lester Scott to his sister, Minnie Riggle<\/h2>\n
\"May<\/a>
Letter to Minnie Riggle from Lester Scott, May 23, 1918.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n