Wetherhorn

My father was the youngest of 8 children. Both his parents died before I was born. I don’t remember him talking a lot about his siblings. That may be one reason why I got into genealogical research.

This week I found something interesting about my fathers’ brother, Raymond. Raymond was about 12 years older. I discovered that he served in the US Army during thee First World War. He was about 18 when he joined the Army. He was sent to American University in Washington, DC, He wasn’t a student. The university was the location where the 604th Engineer Battalion was formed. Raymond was in Company B of that unit.

The 604th spent several months in training in the US before heading or France. The unit sailed in 3 sections. Raymond was with the group that crossed the Atlantic on board the British troopship CARMANIA. The ship left the USA on September 1st, 1918. The 604th disembarked at Liverpool. Later, they crossed the English Channel and spent more time training behind the front lines. For the Engineers, training mostly meant leveling roads and building bridges. His battalion joined the US Army 5t Corps on December 1st. This was just about 3 weeks after the Armistice.

When the war was over American troops were assembled to return home. Those who had been overseas the longest, and participated actively in combat, were among the first sent back. The 604th Engineers had to stay in France for a while longer. Finally, in June, 1919, they moved to Brest and boarded a US Navy battleship, USS NEW HAMPSHIRE, to sail home.

The Navy used a lot of the larger fighting ships to help bring back the American soldiers. NEW HAMPSHIRE made 4 trips back and forth across the Atlantic doing this. Her fourth trip started from Brest, France, on June 10th, 1919. Private Raymond Wetherhorn was one of over 1200 soldiers that she carried back to Newport News, Virginia.

The trip took 12 days. Cooks from the battalion worked alongside the ships’ crew to prepare meals. Many of the soldiers suffered from sea sickness and ended up returning the meals they had eaten to the ocean. The Navy tried to keep the troops busy. The ships’ library was open and embarked passengers could take out a book for up to 3 days. Groups were organized to prepare entertainment. The Engineer battalion had a band that joined with the ships’ own band to take part in these events. There were movies shown every day, twice a day. Men who saw the first showing were asked to abstain from coming to the second in order to give everyone a chance to see the films. Army officers got to share officers cabins on the battleship, but the lower ranks ended up sleeping in hammocks, just like the crew. The ship printed a very small newspaper every day to keep the Army personnel informed of what was happening on board, and in the outside world.

After arrival on Sunday, June 22nd, the 604th marched to nearby Camp Upton. There was where the process of mustering out began. By July Raymond was once again a civilian and returned home to Charleston, SC.