ON HOLD. SALE PENDING TO JARED
This is the personal hand written diary of an American Soldier in WWI. I purchased it at an estate sale. It measures about 4-1/2 by 6-1/2 inches. It is readable, but at times the written words become faint, then strong again which is expected as this diary is almost 100 years old. I guess it depended on how good of a pencil he had at the time of each entry. The diary is covered with a clear see through protective cover.
Tucked inside the front and back are various paper items. In the front cover are several newspaper clippings, articles about Mothers, and a picture of a soldier. At the back is a type written page, but time has caused it to be stuck to the cover. I'll not try to remove it because if I do I may tear it. I'll leave that for the new owner.
Written inside the front cover it says:
"Written for a keepsake to my darling Mother. July 15-16". the -16 refers to the year 1916.
At the top of the first page it says "Iki Haberger, Co. E. 166 Inf". The name is a little hard to read, so I may be wrong about the spelling but the Company and Infantry part is correct.
The first page begins:
Called to arms July 15 - 1916. Transferred to old 4th Ohio National Guard Aug 14, 1917 at Camp Perry, Ohio. Left Camp Perry Sept 6 for Camp Mills, Hempstead, Long Island N.Y. Broke camp in hard rain at 5am arrived at Camp Mills Sept 9 at 1:30pm. Drilled and paraded Oct 17 - 1917. At 1:30am took train for Long Island City. At 5am marched from trains to wharf loaded on Ferry boat, passed under the Brooklyn bridge, ???? ???? building, landed in Hoboken N.J. and landed on steamer ????. Got on boat at 6am. Layed over all day. At 9pm sailed out of Hoboken, passed Statue of Liberty for France.
And with that, he starts his journey into war.
Throughout the diary, he talks about being in France. He talks about marching from town to town, riding in the boxcar freight trains to the next assignments, the first instance of artillery fighting, the first time he saw a dead American soldier, being issued gas masks, the first time smelling gas, the weather, the meals (or lack of), the first changing of clothing in 2 months, marching in mud that is up to his knees and sometimes his waist, air raids, shooting craps and playing cards, pup tents, marching through towns and seeing many dead people and dead horses.
The last two or three pages he writes about heavy bombardments of artillery shelling and tells of men in his company that were killed or lost limbs. The last sentence says "Shell shocked, we enter old cellar. Poor protection. Shells hit building next door".
And then the diary ends. It leaves the reader wondering if he made it out ok or not.
CONDITION:
There are 40 to 50 pages. I didn't count each page because I don't want to handle this any more than I have to. It's 100 years old and while not in fragile condition it's getting there and it needs to be handled gingerly. Inside the spine is starting to come loose between a couple of pages.
Postal Insurance and Signature Confirmation will be mandatory on this item. Since those services protect us both, I will split the cost with the buyer. Delivery will be via USPS First Class Mail Parcel. Buyer to pay delivery charges of $8.95.
REMEMBER, someone will have to sign for the package when it gets delivered.
Sorry, but I only ship to U.S. addresses. No international shipping.
All items in my listings come from either garage or estate sales. I do not know if they came from homes where smoking or pets were present. All items are sold in the same condition as when I received them.
