THIS DAY IN 1918 IN THERECORD
Tuesday, May 28, 1918. As the call for military manpower grows more urgent, Watervliet sends 73 more men off to training camp while Cohoes sends 66, The Record reports. “It was the largest contingent yet to leave Watervliet,” a local correspondent writes, “and the elaborate character of the send- off was consistent with the size of the group in whose honor it was given.” Leaving with the Watervliet draftees are a dozen men from Green Island who arrive by auto parade. Business comes to a halt as the soldiers march from City Hall to the railway station to the music of St. Brigid’s fife and drum corps. Watervliet corporation counsel Albert J. Danaher delivers the farewell oration. “The glory of carrying the Stars and Stripes across the Atlantic is to be yours; yours the honor of fighting to uphold the honor and integrity of our nation and to make the world a better place to live in,” he tells the men. “May the great God in whom we all trust and who this day looks down upon this gathering guard and protect you and bring this terrific struggle to an early conclusion in such a manner that the Stars and Stripes, the greatest f lag the world has ever known, and for which we are going to fight, may be brought back without a spot or a stain upon it. “And may that great Ruler of the universe bring you boys back to your families and homes and your city, safe and victorious.”
The Spindle City sends off its draftees with “one of the most enthusiastic demonstrations that has been accorded a departing draft contingent,” our Cohoes correspondent reports.
The men gather at City Hall, where each receives a fountain pen from the local home defense committee. Mayor Michael J. Foley “congratulated the young men on their opportunity to fight for Liberty and told them he knew they would make good soldiers and uphold the good name of their home city.”
A parade escorts the draftees to the railroad station. “The men left the city hall amid the ringing of church bells and the blowing of factory whistles,” our reporter notes, “At the railroad station a crowd of several thousand persons gathered to bid the boys farewell. There were many touching scenes enacted as good-byes were said.”
Both groups are bound for the Camp Wadsworth training facility in Spartanburg SC. Troy’s contribution to the latest call-up, larger than the Cohoes and Waterford contingents combined, arrives in Spartanburg today after leaving the Collar City last Saturday. “All are in the best of health and in good spirits,” a special correspondent reports.
-- Kevin Gilbert