Wednesday, September 27, 1916
The city of Troy wakes up earlier than normal today. The Record reports that “the residents were out on the streets before sunrise.” By 6 a.m. many have gathered at the Adams Street freight yard. No one wants to miss the return of the Troy troops of the Second New York Infantry regiment after three months in federal service.
Approximately 500 Trojans serve in the Second, which spent the last two months in Texas patrolling the Mexican border. They’re expected back in Troy today, but no one knows exactly when as of this morning.
Mayor Cornelius F. Burns works the phones starting at 4 a.m., trying to find out the latest information. The Record office is deluged with calls requesting the same information. While the calls “hampered business inside the office [it] showed the true patriotic spirit of the citizens.”
At 7:40 a.m. our special correspondent W. J. Campbell, who went to Texas with the troops, calls from Kingston to say that “the boys expected to be home at noon.” By the time Campbell calls “uniformed members of the police and fire departments and old guards began to congregate on the street and small boys already lined the curbs.”
Campbell’s estimate is slightly over-optimistic. The troop train reaches Adams Street at 1:30 p.m.
“Immediately a terrific din was raised,” a Troy reporter writes, “Every whistle in the vicinity belched forth a shrill welcome. Every housetop waved a flag, every person in sight had a handkerchief or flag. Before the train came to a stop cheers went back and forth from the boys in the train to the people on the ground and these cheers echoed and re-echoed to the countryside and back again.”
Families and friends of the troops are kept some distance from the train so a parade can form to escort the soldiers from the train station to the city armory. Mayor Burns is the first to greet the regimental commander, Col. James M. Andrews.
The parade starts at 2:20 p.m. “Everywhere the eye could travel were to be seen the Stars and Stripes, both in large and small quantities, all of which showed the enthusiasm of the Troy patriots in welcoming home the boys who so gallantly volunteered for Uncle Sam….The countless thousands along the streets roared a welcome to the returning boys which they will never forget. “
Col. Andrews tells The Record that the troops will be “turned loose” after the parade to reunite with families and friends. They’ll report back to the Armory at 9 a.m. and stay there until they’re mustered out early next month.