LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES - Part 10 - Discharge

The war is over but Alfred Moehlmann has not been discharged.  He is still in New Jersey biding his time:

 "It was no trouble to get week end passes and we had every night off until taps.  All kinds of “jitneys,” hacks, trucks, (mostly Model T Fords) hauled us to Long Branch, Red Bank or Asbury Park, N.J. for 15 cents.  All these places had community houses for service men.  We would walk over to the one at Little Silver which was just outside the camp and it so happened that George Krie with who I buddied around with went to this place at Little Silver and a nice looking gentleman who turned out to be minister asked us if we would like to have Thanksgiving dinner in a private house.  Of course we took that in stride.  He said some one would call for us at 9 o’clock that morning.  Two nice looking young women called for us, took us to their home in Red Bank, picked up their mother and we went to church services.  Had a good dinner, roast duck, served in formal style by the head of the home, a very nice gentleman, but unfortunately he was not very well.  After a short visit we went to a service foot ball game – tickets furnished.  We didn’t stay long at the game for it started to rain, so the young ladies drove us around the country side and showed us most places of interest in and around Red Bank. On another occasion George and I had a week end pass and we stayed in a private home at Long Branch.  Sunday morning we went to the community house and were playing a game of pool, when a fine looking man tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I had plans for the day.  Of course I didn’t so he said his daughter and 4 other girls had 4 soldiers at his home for dinner and wanted another soldier to pair off even and asked me if I would accept the invitation.  I did, got my hat and overcoat and out front was a big limousine, a chauffer, (in a separate compartment).  I still don’t know what kind of car but it had all appearances of a Rolls-Royce.  Had no idea where we were going but I knew it wasn’t Long Branch – Soon we came to Asbury Park, came to an estate with a high brick wall around it, drove up to an iron gate that opened by some mechanical device – Got out, entered the house and there stood a Butler, rigid as a statue with his arm extended – my host put his top coat and hat on the butlers arm and I did the same.  He then told me he was Henry Greene, asked my name, went in another room, that had mirror every way you looked, and presented me to his wife, a very gracious lady.  She took me in the room where the daughter and guests were and was I let down – The four soldiers were all commissioned officers – After the introductions the officers told me to forget rank, that we were out for a good time.  (Incidentally I later found out that Mr. Greene was the son of Mrs. Hetty Greene, multi-millionaire.)  We had a good turkey dinner, served in formal style.  Will never forget that by each plate was a dish of nuts.  I didn’t know when you were supposed to eat them so I nibbled away at them all through the meal – When the table was cleared and “chatter” took place, everybody was eating the nut but me.  A little dancing, music and an automobile ride took up the evening.

December 13, 1918 pass for Alfred Moehlmann
from Moehlmann Family Collection

To break up the monotony at camp I volunteered 2 times for Guard Duty.  On one of the assignments I was on Guard at Post No. 2.  The station was from the guard house to the Y.M.C.A. bldg. just across the street – It was on New Years Eve and everybody had an all night pass until 6 o’clock the next morning – You had to challenge everybody after 11 pm.   They had some kind of entertainment at the Y and it lasted until midnight.  A hard rain was in process and I had several hundred lined up and could only let one be recognized at a time.  It wasn’t long until the Officer of the Day brot me a written order that Post No. 2 didn’t have to challenge the next 2 wakes including the one I was on.  The other post assignment was No. 17 and it was at the Mule Barn directly across from the one mile race track and beside the track was a row of tents which were occupied by Negro Troops.  After every 3^rd trip around the barn you had to go inside and tie up any mule that got loose.  It was a stormy night, high winds and lots of heavy rain.  For some unknown reason there were a lot of mules loose when the rain was pouring, a hard gust of wind blew all the tents down and all the colored boys wanted shelter in the Barn – called for O.D. finally the O.D. let the poor, soaked negro troops in the barn.  They got bales of straw and made some sort of beds for the remainder of the night.  It was almost like a burlesque show to see and hear them cuss, joke, sing and play pranks on one another. It got to be a problem to have something for us to do and if the weather was half way decent they took us out to a field and we had to participate in some sport.  The last game I was in was a soccer game.  None of us knew anything about the game only to kick the ball around.  We had a new sergeant assigned our company, Sgt. Melrose from the State of Georgia.  Naturally he didn’t like us Damn Yankees.  He was playing on the opposing team and he and I were going top speed for the ball in opposite directions.  He side stepped the ball and put his shoe in my mid-section.  He doubled me up and I landed on my seater about 10 ft. away with the wind knocked out of me.  I got up and said, “Jesus Christ Melrose.”  He retorted, “Its just part of the game, if you can’t take it get out.”  All I said was “OK.”  I had only one thing in mind, to get even.  It wasn’t long until the same situation came about.  We were both tearing for the ball, I side stepped and swing my fist and took him above the right eye.  A gash about 3 inches long was the result.  I told him I was sorry and it was he who said ok.  The next morning I got my first fatigue duty.  We had outside toilets and I was assigned latreen duty.  I got a shovel and went with the gang.  I never got to make the first dip for an orderly came and said I was to report to the Commandant.  I wondered if I was going to be court martialed, was I relieved when informed I was to stay in quarters and turn in supplies for I was to leave that night for Columbus Barracks, Ohio to be discharged.  Sgt. Melrose never got the chance to make army life miserable for me.  That was the final chapter of the 12^th Depot Battalion, U.S. Signal Corpe for me. One incident that caused me some concern started in Asbury Park, NJ.  George Krie and I was seeing a couple of sisters.  One evening I got a letter from Mom and after reading it stuck it in my overcoat pocket.  Evidently part of it was sticking out of the pocket and the young lady noticed it when she took my coat and tore off the return part of the envelope and wrote Mom a letter.  She wrote a bunch of junk to Mom telling her how she got her address and I got the repercussion of it when I got back home.  It was the middle of January 1919 when we left camp Alfred Vail, N.J. over the Central of N.J. R.R. and caught a Pennsylvania for about an hour and on to Pittsburg.  There wasn’t much sleep in our small detail of 20 men and we had a car to ourselves hooked to the rear of the train.  It was a beautiful moonlight night and from the rear platform we got a good view of the well known Horse Shoe Curve.

Horseshoe Curve - built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1854 in Blair county, Pennsylvania
from Wikipedia in public domain.

  I have to break in here and tell about a week end in New York City.  George Kries and I went there on a Saturday afternoon – After we got off the ferry we landed in a tenement district and how kids survived is a mystery to me – Playing in the streets, dodging cars and trucks but I guess they are trained for it.  We got an El Train and got off in the vicinity of the Pennsylvania Station.  The Y.M.C.A. had sleeping quarters there and we registered for bunks.  We decided to take a subway ride and soon found out we were 26 miles from where we started from and hadn’t seen anything.  We got on an El Train and headed back for the Pennsy Station the center of our visit.  That night we took in a show at the Hippodrome Theatre, the biggest show house I ever was in.  The thing I can remember about it was the many balconies and the big stage.  They had a one ring circus for the attraction; elephants, wild animals, aerialists and clowns that you normally see at the circus.  Another thing was Broadway at night in the theatre district.  One mass of lights.  On Sunday morning we walked down Wall Street, a sort of gloomy atmosphere, but one thing there was a church there, surrounded by tall buildings, and even though it looked small in its environment, there were throngs of people attending the service.  We walked over Brooklyn Bridge and to describe the bridge would take a volume of ink and paper.  The huge cables, the piers, the height, the sights you could see, the traffic was almost unrealistic.  I didn’t see much of New York City but what I saw was fantastic. Now on to Columbus Barracks; the atmosphere was all different; this was the first regular army camp I ever was in as a soldier.  The personnel was all old army men.  Our stay was short there – Had K.P. duty one morning and the night befor, the detail assigned different sleeping quarters because we had to be on duty at 6 am.  It was the first time I had to slop with negroes in the same room.  I suppose on the medical check out I pulled a “Crock.”  I was informed it would take from two to three weeks befor I would be discharged but I had the privilege of signing up that I was as good going out of the service as when I entered,   This I did.  I wanted to get home.  So on __________[left blank in the original writings] I got my Honorable Discharge from the Army.

Army Discharge for Alfred Moehlmann, January 18, 1819
from Moehlmann Family Collection 

Alfred's pass above gives him permission to attend the "Passing Show."  This was an elaborate variety production that competed with the Ziegfield Follies.

It seems that Alfred got to do a lot of sightseeing his last months in the service.  A trip to New York City seems to have been a high spot. Here is a picture of the Hippodrome in New York:

Hippodrome 1905, New York
public domain

Hippodrome, interiror
public domain

Another chapter in the life of Alfred Moehlmann has come to an end.  Luckily his late draft date kept him stateside and now once again he is returning home.