Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-02-17
old Sd REGIMENT
! MEN RETURN HOME
D. c. Soldiers, on Huntington,
Made Voyage Across in
Heavy Gales.
STATIONED AT CAMP DIX

STAFF Correspondence of The Star.
NEW YORK, February II. - High
winds and heavy seas pounded the
United States cruiser Huntington,
which doeked in Hoboken yesterday
with 1868 returning American troops,
of whom eighteen are from the Dis
trict of Columbia With one exception
these Washington men from overseas
were members of the old Sd Regiment,
District of Columbia National Guard.
Aside from the former guardsmen
who have returned either wounded or
as casuals. these. are the first OF the
old Sd Regiment which was early IN
the war absorbed by the 16lst, 1921
and 1e3d regiments of the 41st Divi-
sion, United States Army. to return
from France.
More or Less Scattered.
The. Washington soldiers in this
contingent were more or less scatter
ed or isolated. Seven of them belong
to the 1s4th Ambulance Regiment.
Five of them are members of the l6Sd
Machine Gun Battalion; three are
members of Company c. 16lst lnfan-
try; one of Company A. 151st lnIan-
try; one of Company D., 1S1st lnfan-
try. and one of the Medical Corps:
The men and the defachmentS 10
which they belong are:
One hundred and sixty-fourth Am
bulance-First Lieut. 7. y. Bland. IT.
Sergt. Morris ]. Webster. Sergt Jo-
seph E. OConner. Sergt. Lewis B. CrIs-
mond. and Corps. Howard NJ Brown. j.
L. Hughes and Private Thomas Con-
nor. Sergt- Webster is the son of
Elmer Webster of 104 5th street
northeast. and Hughes lives at 3345
Prospect street northeast
One hundred and sixty-third Ma
Price, Mechanic William B. Calvert.
Cook Robert H. Baggot, and stephen
Wilkinson and Purnall ]. Winstead.
BaEgott is the son of Mrs. Minnie
Baggott, Good Hope southeast fAna-
costia), and Calvert is the son of Mrs.
Jennie Calvert of 40S N street south
cast.
Those of the 1S1st Infantry were:
Corps. Charles r. Arneson, Privates
George Carrick and David Chesi1dine.
Corp. Garland Dabney and Sergt.
Kesie. The medical officer was Capt
These men. with the others who re-
turned on the Huntington, have been
sent TO Camp Dix. Wrightstown, y. J.,
where they will remain for demobii-
ization and Anal discharge The
washngton soldiers have read OF the the
exeat welcomeshome pAIo1& and they
have their hearts set 6h B3ih6 pres
ent to take part in the celebration.
However. whether Or not they viii be
sent to Washington in time for this
event is not now known
Lieut.. Martin Still Abroad.
First Lieut.. Francis Martin. who was
an old Sd Regiment officer before that
organization was taken over by the
4Ist Division, was with the 1s1st
Regiment until the time il proceeded
to Brest to sail for home. He was
then assigned to special duty there
which prevented his returning with
the regiment
These units were more or less nom
combatant during their service In
France. They served principally at
replacement and instruction camps
or as conveys. However. some of the
men journeyed in dangerous territory
and the members of the ambulance
perienced terrific shelling. During
these expeditions several of their num-
Der were either killed or wounded
Despite the nature of their expert
ences in France. whether under fire
or non-combatant. the. majority of
these returning District soldiers were
more ready to tell of the stormy voy-
age back They experienced a heavy
sea during the entire trip and for
two days ran head into a terrific gale
which. they claim, made every last
man aboard forget entirely the hor-
rors OF war. Their quarters on the
big cruiser were close, and because
of the waye-swept decks and the ter
rible gales they were forced to re-
main below large part of the time
The heat and discomfort were diff
cult TO endure, and aside from plain
evidence of recent seasickness they
were glad lot when they landed.
The cruiser was met down the bay by
the mayors welcoming committee
aboard large tug, and the responsive
cheers OF the men aboard the cruiser
suggested that they were delighted to
be SO close to American shores again
Influenza Aboard Ship.
Besides the heavy sea there was an
outbreak OF influenza aboard which
added TO the unpleasantness of the
homeward journey. One death resulted.
the victim being a national guardsma n
from Alabama.
The Washington infantrymen ex-
pressed regret at the manner in which
she old Sd Regiment was taken over by
the fist Division The men were as
signed, not as companies, but as indi-
viduals. and were therefore scattered in
various companies Of different regi-
xnents-
Since the organization Of the 41st Di-
vision there have been shifts and
changes. and as a result the District
,guardsmen are now more Or less iso-
lated
During its service in France. the
7slst spent the greater part of time
at the great training and replacement
camp at Is-Sur-Tille. In fact it was
one of the early arrivals of the Amer
yican contingents. and because of this
1T did much of the work in connection
with the building of this wonderful
camp A considerable part of their
military duties were more in line with
those required of engineers than OF
infantrymen and there is not a man
among them, although proud of mis-
two service stripes. who Is not sorely
disappointed at not having had a
taste OF the front line trenches They
say II is hard TO realize the feelIue 2
of a returning soldier who did not
experience the thrills of the trench