by Mike Forster
Copyright 2020 Mike Forster
In the late 1980s, my wife found a notepad of lined paper on a sidewalk in Menlo Park, California. The notepad was misplaced in our home for a decade, rediscovered in 2001, packed again into a box, and found again in 2017. The notepad appears to be the diary of an American World War I doughboy, from June 28th through October 3, 1918.
I had more time available after my retirement, a lifelong interest in history, and enjoyment in researching unusual situations. So, I decided to investigate to determine the author, and to see if I could find a family member that would like to have this memento. The investigation concluded that the diary’s author was one Private Rabb Forest Mobley. Using Ancestry.com, I was able to locate Rabb Mobley’s grandchildren, and returned the diary to one of them.
This diary was not just the story of great battles and heroism. I felt as if I were walking alongside the Private Mobley as he experienced day-to-day life in the army, crossing the Atlantic and in the French theater.
But the diary also reminds us that our World War I American Expeditionary Force of front-line troops were heroes. They risked their lives just crossing the Atlantic, with encounters with German submarines that could have sunk them at any moment. They could be killed at any moment by enemy artillery shells hitting their encampments. And despite the risks, they carried through on their missions, such as repairing railroads. These missions might seem mundane compared with front-line fighting, but just as necessary for victory.
this is a delightful viewpoint you have!