About

"Minnie I often think to myself that it certainly must be a lonesome old place around their now since all of the boys have left. But I feel that there is a day coming and not far away when we will all be together again..." In his fortieth letter home to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, says it's a rainy day but all are in good spirits and happy. He talks with Charles [Riggle] and Tib [Meriner] every day. Tib has been promoted to sergeant. Les would like to hear from their father and is planning to write to him. He's surprised that Tom [Riggle] didn't pass the [draft] exam. he thinks Wheeling must be a lonesome place since all the boys are in France. But he feels they will all be together again soon. Elsewhere on the same day, fighting along the front increased in violence and intensity as the German army made a stand. The New York Times declared, on a full page of photographs: "Win-the-War Spirit Runs High in Labor's Greatest New York Parade." And Derek Barton, a British chemist who would win the Nobel Prize in 1969, was born. Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his fortieth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, September 8, 1918. Digital scans and a transcript of Lester Scott's September 8, 1918 letter can be viewed at: http://www.archivingwheeling.org/blog/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-september-8-1918-podcast Credits: "From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle" is brought to you by http://archivingwheeling.org in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org) and the WALS Foundation (http://walswheeling.com). Jeremy Richter is the voice of Lester Scott. 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: "Over There," Cohan, George M. (composer), Murray, Billy (performer), 1917, courtesy Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010567/ 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.