100 years ago in the Record
Tuesday, May 8, 1917
“The average person does not really understand and, not understanding, necessarily can not fully appreciate what the present guard duty being done by soldiers of the regiment means,” The Record reports from “Somewhere in New York State.”
The Troy-based Second New York Infantry regiment has been on guard duty since shortly before the U. S. declared war on Germany last month. The federal government assigned the regiment police protective duty on bridges, canals and railroads in Schenectady County, while troops from an Albany-based regiment do the same in Rensselaer County.
“It is generally understood that the men are protecting valuable property in their wide sector of the state,” our reporter writes, “There is not one moment of the 24 hours of a day that there is a let-up in this duty – day and night.
“Four hours on and eight off – that is the trick a sentry does whether it rains or it shines or it blows. Travelers from car windows catch glimpses of the soldiers from time to time – a man or two at a bridge end or patrolling the forepath, and they see the brown tent nearby which shelters the squad, and in which the guardsmen cook their meals and sleep. “If it be raining that tent looks pretty lonely and the comfortable passenger may feel an involuntary sort of shiver run over him as he looks out through the maze of raindrop channels on the window and probably a thought of the night comes. But the men stand it solidly, grimly – no one ever hears a word of complaint.
“There is a camaraderie born of service which the layman can not know of and which enables men with pluck and stamina to take on the hardships coolly and unconsciously rely on one another.”
Local guard duty is not without risk. While fears of sabotage by German sympathizers may be exaggerated, there have been shots fired at troops in Saratoga County and every sighting of a suspicious stranger near a bridge or canal keeps suspicions high.
Where the Troy troops are, the greatest danger so far seems to come from the weather. “Walking of trestles is not done, of course, but the wind out in the free country has blown pretty hard this spring,” our correspondent writes, “and although there is no real danger many a guardsman has found himself blown against the guard rail of a bridge and he has been buffeted about a-plenty.
“The men who have been out since the call came in all kinds of weather have acquired additional strength and ruggedness, and they grow fitter each day.”