“Jack” Hoey joined the United States Army on April 3, 1917 at Ft. Leavenworth. He trained at Camp Funston, in Kansas. He was a bugler in Co. E of the 35 Infantry and a qualified sharpshooter. The 35th Infantry Division Served on the Mexican-US border during the first World War and was stationed at Nogales, Arizona in 1918. It fought a border skirmish on 27 August 1918 during the Battle of Ambos Nogales. Except for his initial military training, Jack spent his entire military career on the Mexican/U.S. border.
Author: Perry Walters (Page 2 of 2)
Perry Walters is a life long resident of the Tonganoxie, KS area. He graduated from Kansas University with a BS in Education with a minor in history and an AB in Science. He received a DDS degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He joined the Navy and served two years on active duty. One year was with the Fleet Marines in Okinawa. He retired from the Naval Reserves. He later received a Masters Degree in Periodontics and directed a graduate program in periodontics. Later he directed a hospital based dental clinic. After retirement he and his wife became active in the Tonganoxie Historical Society where he is the editor of their newsletter. He also films and edits movies of local people who know history.
In 1862 Henry Baker settled SE of Tonganoxie near Stranger Creek. He was a Quaker from England who came to Tonganoxie via New York. The location for his new home had two criteria. There needed to be a Quaker Church and a good farm with rich farmland. Henry arrived in Tonganoxie in mid-January, and noticed the farmers were farming in their shirt sleeves. He decided this was the place to call home.
Trench Mouth is a disease of sudden onset, with necrosis of the gingival papilla and ulcers seen around the gingival tissues of the mouth. It is extremely painful with fetid breath. It is so painful that it becomes difficult to eat. The gum tissue is swollen, red and bleeds easily. The disease in called Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis. The disease represents a group of various normal oral bacteria that becomes overgrown with a significant quantity of anaerobic bacteria, Spirochetes and Fusobacteria. Historically it was believed to be contagious, even though it is not.
Trench Fever is caused by a Gm positive bacterial rod, Bartonella quintana. It was considered non life threatening. Today this is rarely fatal unless there is no treatment of the disease or endocarditis is a factor.
Trench Fever during WW1 was considered a significant disease by the military, and affected over 1,000,000 soldiers. The disease is transmitted by a bite from the human body louse, but the disease causing organism was the bacteria located in the feces of the human body louse. The body louse bites the human. This bite offers the bacteria located in the louse fecal material an opening into the tissue thus infecting that person. Later another louse bites the infected human and then it can transmit the infection to another human host.
Life in the trenches was not a happy place. The total environment around the trenches was a combination of several problems all of which easily aided the progression to disease.
Consider some of the more signifiant problems: cold moisture/water within the confines of the trenches, dead and wounded bodies of soldiers as well as dead horses (8,000,000 horses were killed in WW1), control of waste including food and human excrement, and stress both physical and mental. Soldiers lived in close proximity without adequate water for maintaining cleanliness. I personally can’t imagine worrying about coughing around someone or worrying about hand cleanliness when I am worrying about staying alive.
After the declaration of war in 1918, individuals who were not native born were required to complete a “Registration Affidavit of Alien Enemy” before a registration officer, photographed with signature over photograph, and finger printed. The questions as answered on the forms provide a telling story of the times and much about the individuals in our community, Tonganoxie, KS, who filed such forms.