by Roxy Triebel
treebz65@hotmail.com

The journal that Gordon kept as the historian for his unit was written in a small spiral pocket notebook.  Most spelling etc. has been left as he wrote it in the original.  I have corrected some of the French place names with the help of a correspondent who lives in the part of France that Gordon's unit moved through.  I have occasionally filled in a missing word or two in parentheses, especially on the last few entries of Part 15 which are badly faded and difficult to make out.  I have also divided it into manageable chunks, roughly according to location.

Some of the people mentioned in the journal:  Genevieve was probably Genevieve Winne, the woman Gordon would marry in 1923.  Everett and Freeman were his brothers.  Roxy, Vera, Elta, and Dot were his sisters.  Gordon also mentions exchanging letters with someone named "Alice", but I'm not sure who she was.  A "Ralph" is also mentioned - this is probably Ralph Sparling who is mentioned in Gordon's letters home from France.

Gordon mentions a buddy named "Charlie Mays" several times.  The way it was written in the journal, it looked like "Mayr", but I thought that was a bit odd.  Also, one of Gordon's letters home mentions this name as "Mays", so that is how I spelled it here.

I have some old European postcards from the World War I era that I've bought at shows.  Some of them may be of places Gordon mentions in the journal.  I hope to look through them, scan any that would be relevant, and put them on this page.

• Part 1:  training at Camp Wadsworth, SC and Camp Merrit, NJ.  July 15 to July 25, 1918.

• Part 2:  aboard the U.S.S. Kroonland en route to France, first entry from Brest, France.  July 26 to August 7, 1918.

• Part 3:  Brest, France.  August 8 to August 13, 1918.

• Part 4:  aboard train and Sexey-aux-Forges, France.  August 14 to August 24, 1918.

• Part 5:  Ropage, France.  August 25 to September 17, 1918.  According to a correspondent who lives in the area, Ropage is about a mile east of Toul.

• Part 6:  Toul, France to Fey en Haye, France.  September 18 to October 7, 1918

• Part 7:  Bois du Four, France to Xivray France.  October 10 to about October 21, 1918.

• Part 8:  Forêt de Puvenelle, France.  October 12 to November 9, 1918

• Part 9:  somewhere near Thiaucourt, France to Trieux, France.  November 12 to November 21, 1918

• Part 10:  Woldereninger to Wormadange, Luxembourg.  November 22 to December 2, 1918.

• Part 11:  Conz, Germany to Wengerohr, Germany.  December 3 to December 14, 1918.

• Part 12:  Aldgund, Germany to Treis, Germany.  December 17 to December 26, 1918.

• Part 13:  Lehman, Germany to Guls, Germany.  December 27, 1918 to April 7, 1919.

• Part 14:  Brohl, Germany.  April 8 to May 15, 1919.

• Part 15:  Trier, Germany to St. Naizare, France.  May 25 to June 19, 1919.

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