Wordless Wednesday - LeRoy Meisinger: A Studious Fellow

(Photograph is in my possession!)

 

LeRoy Meisinger - My War Diary - Infantry Days June 2, 1917 to March 19, 1918 Five Thousand Miles From the Western Front

 "I have enlisted with a group of my friends in an organization which, I believe, offers me the opportunities for the best service, but what will it lead to is useless to guess, for there are no more uncertain quantities than the fortunes of war." - C. LeRoy Meisinger - WWI Diary, June 3, 1917

LeRoy Meisinger - WWI Journal: Thanksgiving Day Menu at Camp Cody in Deming, NM

 “November Twenty - ninth (1917)

Thanksgiving Day. On such a day as this, I begin to think that this is the first such holiday that I have been away from home; and I wonder if a year from today I will be up to my knees in Flanders. But my work came to the rescue, for holidays may come and holidays may go, but my work goes on forever. About nine o’clock I received a telegram from home, and I appreciated it very much. We worked until noon, when we heard the mess call and hurried to see what Uncle Sam had for dinner. And we were well satisfied for there were more things to eat than our mess kits would accommodate: turkey, oyster dressing, potato salad, cranberries, potatoes - all heaped together in the most cosmopolitan fashion. On the flat tray of the kit were butter, celery, green onions, radishes and stuffed olives, and pumpkin pie with ice cream. And for the cup we had the choice of cocoa or lemonade. Too soon it was over, and the vision of a hoped for siesta, or, to be military, - a bit of bunk - fatigue - went glimmering indeed, it was four o’clock before our work was over.”

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LeRoy Meisinger - Balloon Flights: LeRoy’s Connection with Radio Stations and Local People

 Here is an article proving that LeRoy had contact with people in towns as he was flying. It is quaint to know that the townspeople invited them to a banquet. Shows how exciting the flights were to people. I cannot be sure if LeRoy and James took them up on the invitation. I like to think they did.

 

This article was found in The Daily Times, Davenport, Iowa, 03 Jun 1924, page 8.

Palmer School Radio Station, Davenport, Iowa. Date of photograph unknown.

LeRoy Meisinger - Newspaper Clipping of Balloon Accident with Photographs of LeRoy Meisinger and James Neely

 This article is from The Tribune in Coshocton, Ohio dated 09 Jun 1924, Mon • Page 8

LeRoy Meisinger - The Moment my Ancestor Died: Finding the Time of Death C. LeRoy Meisinger and James Neely

 Often we are taken aback when we come across the death record of an ancestor. Details are found…date, age, cause of death… But what if we discover something that describes the exact time of death in a very dramatic and tangible way. That is what I found in a newspaper article from the Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, TN) dated Wednesday, June 4, 1924. Actually this is just one of many newspapers that reported the accident. Several details are given. However one caught my eye this time. It was a detail about James Neely’s watch. Just a sentence that gave me a moment to pause and reflect. Not only do I know the date LeRoy died but I know the very moment. The moment the balloon was hit by lightning. The moment LeRoy and James died.

“A watch on Lieut. Neely’s body had stopped at 11:15, seven hours after the fatal flight started.”

This detail made it real to me. This was more than a date or cause of death. This was a personal item worn by James that stopped the moment the lightning struck the balloon. This was the moment my ancestor died.

LeRoy Meisinger - WWI Journal: LeRoy’s Parents Meet General Blocksom

 Entry from LeRoy’s journal dated December 9, 1917. He parents just arrived to Deming via train.

”…General Blocksom, the commander of the 34th Division was on the train, just returning from France, where he had been for several months; and I told my parents hoping that we might get a glimpse of the great man. But the General was “old stuff” to them. They had made his acquaintance along about Kansas City and had some chats with him. The General even offered Mama his lower berth when it was found she couldn’t get one. The joke was on the General, however, for it was later discovered that his was an upper too.”