Roy's next letter to Stella is not until early October, and while I am confident that my readers could figure out on their own that this large space between letters is due in part to the great distance between France and the United States (made greater by slower means of transportation and lack of e-mail), I thought I'd supply a bit of additional information about what was happening at this time in 1918 to Roy and to the Western World.
On September 3rd, the 281st aero squadron left the Pontanazen barracks (where they marched from Brest) and boarded a train for St. Maixent, where they arrived on September 4th. Unfortunately for the men, they arrived in the Port of Brest during or shortly after one of the worst outbreaks of Spanish Influenza, and when they arrived in St. Maixent roughly 40 of the men were ill with it, including, if we can believe his later letters, Roy Diehl. Between September 4th and 16th, the 281st stayed in St. Maixent, and when they boarded the train for Colombey-les-Belles, they left 15 sick men behind.
The Spanish Flu, a strain of H1N1 (familiar?), is largely forgotten, although it killed more people than the Great War itself did. It could be that the Great War has overshadowed the Spanish Flu as a greater event in history, but no doubt restricted media coverage of the illness due to the war as well as the brief (albeit intense) run of the disease between 1917 and 1918 contributed to its fading from human memory.
The Spanish Flu was an unusual pandemic in that it tended to be most dangerous for the hale and hearty, causing strong immune systems to react violently and kill the bodies they were trying to save. Thus, the young men heading off to war were often victims of the illness. Despite its name, the virus did not originate in Spain; Spain merely had few media restrictions, and therefore covered the virus in its newspapers etc. where other countries involved in the war did not. The virus is thought to have originated in the American midwest, though there were theories that it came from the Far East as well.
So, at this time in 1918, Roy and his squadron were traveling to their appointed location, and the Spanish Flu made a terrific comeback among the enlisted men while the Great War continued.
A collection of letters written by Roy J. Diehl to his future wife, Stella, transcribed and annotated by her great-granddaughter...me.
The Letters of Roy J. Diehl (Jay Roy Diehl)
From 1917-1919, Roy J. Diehl, a railroad worker from Pennsylvania, wrote a series of letters to Stella Custer, his future wife, while he was enlisted in the 281st Aero Squadron. Most published letter collections consist of letters penned by men of education, rank, or fame. Roy J. Diehl was neither highly educated, highly ranked, nor famous, but his letters provide an interesting and valuable look at the life of an ordinary enlisted man, untainted by the notion that he may be writing to a wide audience or that anything beyond his relationship with Stella, his future betrothed, rests on what he says. Still, his letters display the usual characteristics of war-time correspondence; Sergeant Diehl omits potentially sensitive information about activities in his Squadron, treats probably disgusting or horrific situations with a certain amount of nonchalance, speaks in cliches of patriotism, and continually thinks of movement and distance.
Roy
Roy J. Diehl was born Jay Roy Diehl in Henrietta, Pennsylvania in 1890. He had three brothers: Edward, Asher, and Jim. Though one might imagine a man just out of his teens writing these letters to a sweetheart back home, Roy was actually 27 when he enlisted and had a career as a railroad worker under his belt. According to his daughter, Jean Dodson, he lived in both Chicago and Philadelphia before settling in Altoona, the town in which he enlisted on December 14, 1917. Shortly thereafter he went to Claysburg, PA, where “the boys” stayed until they were transferred to military bases across the country.
Roy was eventually transferred to Park Field Tennessee, a military base a few miles outside of Memphis. There, he worked as a truck driver, since his education prohibited him from becoming a pilot (Roy completed basic school but did not go beyond the 8th grade—surprising, considering his excellent writing skills). Before shipping out, Roy’s unit, the 281st Aero Squadron, stayed in Garden City on Long Island, New York. After that, it is difficult to determine where, exactly he was, because he could not say anything more than “somewhere in France” in his letters until after the Armistice. Gorrell’s History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919 provides some information, however; according to the section on the 281st, Roy’s unit stayed in Brest, St. Maixent, Colombey-les-Belles, and Behonne. When the military lifted its harsh censorship following the peace agreement, the 281st was in Bar-Le-Duc. When all was said and done, Roy had only been in France for a little over a year and had seen little to no action. America’s late entrance into the war kept him from serious harm, but Roy’s experience certainly instilled a strong sense of duty and patriotism in him.
After he returned from the Great War, Roy worked for a car manufacturer. He and Stella married in 1923 and settled in Philipsburg, PA. They had one daughter: Jean Dodson (born Jean Frances Diehl). Unfortunately, Roy lost his job when the Depression hit, though he did get a very small veteran’s pension. Through the depression he worked out of his garage as an automobile mechanic, fixing neighbors’ cars in return for money and once, according to Jean, a case of bubblegum. The family eventually moved to Johnstown, where Roy worked for a garage as a mechanic until WWII, when he decided to go into defense work after being turned away when he tried to enlist. He moved to York to work in a defense factory, followed by his family a few months later when Jean graduated from high school. He stayed at the factory until the end of the war, when he got a job for Ford Motor Company as a garage mechanic. He worked there until Jean graduated from college. When she married, Roy and Stella moved to Roaring Spring to be close to their daughter and her young family. When Stella died, Roy moved in with his daughter’s family. He lived to the age of 93.
Roy was eventually transferred to Park Field Tennessee, a military base a few miles outside of Memphis. There, he worked as a truck driver, since his education prohibited him from becoming a pilot (Roy completed basic school but did not go beyond the 8th grade—surprising, considering his excellent writing skills). Before shipping out, Roy’s unit, the 281st Aero Squadron, stayed in Garden City on Long Island, New York. After that, it is difficult to determine where, exactly he was, because he could not say anything more than “somewhere in France” in his letters until after the Armistice. Gorrell’s History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919 provides some information, however; according to the section on the 281st, Roy’s unit stayed in Brest, St. Maixent, Colombey-les-Belles, and Behonne. When the military lifted its harsh censorship following the peace agreement, the 281st was in Bar-Le-Duc. When all was said and done, Roy had only been in France for a little over a year and had seen little to no action. America’s late entrance into the war kept him from serious harm, but Roy’s experience certainly instilled a strong sense of duty and patriotism in him.
After he returned from the Great War, Roy worked for a car manufacturer. He and Stella married in 1923 and settled in Philipsburg, PA. They had one daughter: Jean Dodson (born Jean Frances Diehl). Unfortunately, Roy lost his job when the Depression hit, though he did get a very small veteran’s pension. Through the depression he worked out of his garage as an automobile mechanic, fixing neighbors’ cars in return for money and once, according to Jean, a case of bubblegum. The family eventually moved to Johnstown, where Roy worked for a garage as a mechanic until WWII, when he decided to go into defense work after being turned away when he tried to enlist. He moved to York to work in a defense factory, followed by his family a few months later when Jean graduated from high school. He stayed at the factory until the end of the war, when he got a job for Ford Motor Company as a garage mechanic. He worked there until Jean graduated from college. When she married, Roy and Stella moved to Roaring Spring to be close to their daughter and her young family. When Stella died, Roy moved in with his daughter’s family. He lived to the age of 93.
Stella
Stella Custer, to whom Roy writes in this collection of letters, was born in Johnstown in 1899. She was unlike her husband in that she really took to school. She finished her high school education, took up a job teaching 8th grade English after that, and taught until she married Roy. She had one brother—Howard—who married Betty Shaffer, whose mother ran a boarding house in Claysburg. Stella’s daughter, Jean, theorizes that this boarding house is probably where her parents met. After all, Roy stayed for a while in Claysburg before leaving for Tennessee, and probably needed a room to stay in while there. His letters also refer to the Shaffers frequently, suggesting that they are the mutual acquaintances by whom he met Stella.
At the time she met Roy, Stella would have been very young—only 17 or 18—with Roy nine years her senior. Knowing this, it makes sense that they waited until 1923 to marry. Though Roy was certainly old enough to be married by then, Stella was still a young bride.Once they were married, Stella quit teaching English—according to Jean, Stella wasn’t allowed to teach once she had a husband. Stella stayed at home and took care of her daughter, who describes her as a very smart, generous, and strong woman.
Though her writing isn’t represented here, Stella was a great correspondent as well. Jean has preserved all of the letters written to her by her mother while she (Jean) was overseas with her husband. Sadly, Stella died in 1962, many years before her husband, while Jean and her family were living on the other side of the world.
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