From Camp Lee to the Great War: Episode 33 [February 23, 1918]

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott & Charles Riggle

"I would like to be in one battle before [the war] is over any way. For all i know, I might be in several of them before it is over...." In his ninth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, dated February 23, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that he's just starting to feel like he did before he left [apparently to go home for a visit]. The weather is like spring and he hasn't drilled a bit since returning. Les [our second letter writer] is out of the hospital and doing well. The two are planning to go to the show in Lakemont. Les thinks going home isn't worth the trouble for a short visit. He heard the Captain say they wouldn't go to France before October, and Dutch thinks the war will be over before then. Dutch likes the army but prefers farm work. His first sergeant was paid $62.00 a month -- good money. He can't wait to husk corn. It only took 19 hours to get back to Petersburg [the trip would take about 7 hours by car today]. Elsewhere on the same day the socialist parties of the allied nations concluded one of several wartime Inter-Allied Socialist Conferences in London. The parties adopted a war aims resolution that included territorial goals; planned actions to prevent famine and refugees and punish war crimes; endorsement of a League of Nations; an International Legislature; and the abolition of secret treaties, diplomacy, and compulsory military service Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his ninth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, February 23, 1918. Digital scans and a transcript of Charles Riggle's February 23, 1918 letter can be viewed at: http://www.archivingwheeling.org/blog/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-february-23-1918-podcast Credits: "From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle" is brought to you by archivingwheeling.org in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (www.ohiocountylibrary.org) and the WALS Foundation (walswheeling.com). Vince Marshall is the voice of Charles Riggle. The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle were transcribed by Jon-Erik Gilot. This podcast was edited and written by Sean Duffy, audio edited by Erin Rothenbuehler. Music: "True to the Flag March," United States Marine Band, 1922, courtesy Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/item/00694039/ Many thanks to Marjorie Richey for sharing family letters and the stories of her uncles, Lester Scott and Charles “Dutch” Riggle, WWI soldiers from West Virginia.