DON BLANDING
In the Army

WORLD WAR ONE

      The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife at Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28, 1914  marks the official start of the great war, otherwise known as World War One. Nineteen-year-old Don Blanding is living in Chicago and taking life drawing classes at the Art Institute when the shockwaves reverberate throughout the world.

      By the beginning of 1916, the United States has yet to join the war effort in Europe. Because Blanding is eager to participate, he becomes one of hundreds of American citizens who head north to join with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, otherwise known as the CEF. Canada is already involved in the great battle, and accepting soldiers from other countries. The 97th Battalion of the Canadian Army began organizing in the latter part of 1915 in the Toronto area, and was comprised of over 90% American volunteers, thus earning the nickname the "American Legion." On January 11, 1916 Don Blanding is sworn in, and takes the oath at Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

      The soldiers of the American Legion commit "to serve in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary force for the term of one year or during the war now existing between Great Britain and Germany, should that war last longer than one year, and for six months after the termination of that war provided his Majesty should so long require my Services." The Yankee soldiers were each presented with a small American Flag and were told to pin it inside their tunic, over their heart. The battalion motto became "I'll carry this to Berlin or bust," and the Canadian Maple leaf bearing George Washington's coat of arms with a "97" etched on its shield was selected for a cap badge.

Shoulder strap numeral for the 97th Battalion, CEF

      The troops are sent to Camp Aldershot, located near Halifax, Nova Scotia, for advanced trench training. Most of the officers were selected straight from the volunteer ranks themselves, and the 97th began intensive training for the Western Front. They became a precision unit, and often beat their fellow Canadian units in local competitions. They were scheduled to be shipped off to the front on September 17th, but for reasons unknown, Blanding left the army on September 15, 1916, and was "Struck off Strength," just days before the trip. Maybe he lost his nerve, and decided he didn't want to risk his neck for the King after all. Perhaps he was among a handful of American men who went back "over the hill," and were accused of  joining simply to draw pay through the cold winter of 1915-16. We may never know.

      The United States declares war on Germany on April 6, 1917, finally joining the fracas. Blanding is residing in the Territory of Hawaii, and is producing cartoons for the Honolulu Advertiser, painting portraits, and acting in amateur theatre. On December 15th, the same day that Germany and Russia sign an Armistice at Brest-Litovsk, Blanding enlists in the Army as a private. His previous service with the CEF is not mentioned on his enlistment papers. He is stationed at Fort Shafter, Hawaiian Territory with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Infantry. 1st Lieutenant F. A Lufkin is on record as signing his enlistment papers.

      Blanding humorously relates the following details from Fort Shafter:

U.S. Army soldiers in Hawaii during WWI

     Blanding begins Officer Training School on May 15, 1918 at the fourth officers' training camp at Schofield Barracks, Oahu. Major James H. Peale was the commanding officer on record. He receives inoculations for Typhoid and Paratyphoid on June 1st. The officer training is completed by August 26th, and Donald is recommended as eligible for appointment as second lieutenant, and given a commission to go to Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois. Blanding is honorably discharged and paid $22.25, his full dues, by Quartermaster Captain E. T. Comegys.
     The S. S. Columbia set sail from the port of Honolulu on October 10, 1918, commandeered by Captain Hans Thompson of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. 98 U.S. Army Infantry Officers were aboard, including Don Blanding, and his friends Leslie Y. Correthers, Urban E. Wild, and Otis L. Butler. While aboard the Columbia, the men put together a "vaudeville" show, which was presented on October 5th. Reg Correthers, who had put on musicals in Honolulu, was very likely responsible for organizing the show.

THE OFFICERS NOW
EN ROUTE:
"THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY'RE GOING"
"BUT ARE ON THEIR WAY"
HAVE KINDLY CONSENTED TO GIVE
A
"CONSERTO MONSTRO"
SATURDAY EVENING AT NINE O'CLOCK
PROGRAM
By
"THE BOYS" OF THE US INFANTRY"
from
HONOLULU

     The program, entitled SHIP "BORED," A REVUE IN NINE ROLLS, was divided into nine parts, or "Rolls." In the first roll, The Cigarette Ballet, Blanding played Fatima. Also, in the same act is Reg Correthers, who played La Marquise. The other rolls included a movie, a trumpet drill, a duet, and a Hula dance.

Daily Calisthenics at Camp Grant, Rockford, Illinois

     The men arrive in San Francisco on October 9th, and according to one source, the unit was delayed there for three weeks because of a measles epidemic and must remain in quarantine. When they are finally released they make their way by train to Camp Grant, Illinois. They are greeted in Rockford with some surprise, as more than a few folks expected to see "liquid-eyed, dark-skinned natives, wreathed with the familiar lei about the neck and clad in grass skirts." The men did show the influence of the Islands in their dialect, music, ukuleles, dances and sports. The first verse of their "mob song," stirringly sung, went as follows:

     Before the group of second lieutenant are to be shipped overseas, the Armistice is signed On November 11th, 1918, at the eleventh hour, thereby ending the war. Blanding is honorably discharged on December 3rd, yet again avoiding overseas participation in the armed conflict. A year later, still in Rockford teaching at the college and heading the Rockford Art League classes, he is awarded a Bronze victory button on September 12, 1919.  In 1920 he takes a trip to peacetime Europe, to take art classes in Paris and London.

WORLD WAR TWO


Private Don Blanding, Camp Upton, New York

     Blanding would become famous in 1928 with his book Vagabond's House, and following that wrote a succession of popular books of poetry and prose. By 1941 he was married to socialite Dorothy Putnam and living a plush, comfortable existence in Fort Pierce, Florida. The 48-year-old Blanding had just put out Floridays, and was writing a daily column for the News-Tribune, Fort Pierces local paper. He was also the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and highly involved in local civic activities. Rejoining the Army was probably the last thing on his mind at this time.
     That all changed on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese army bombed Pearl Harbor, effectively entering America into the armed conflict that had been taking place in Europe. Blanding was shocked that his longtime home in the Pacific had been the target of terrorists, and his column expressed his sorrow at the turn of events:

     In January of 1942, Blanding began a four-month lecture tour which would take him to all parts of the country, where he witnessed first-hand the effects of the war on the American people. He kept up his news column, sending it by mail, with just a few lapses, to the Fort Pierce News-Tribune, where they dutifully published it each day. His writing seemed to reflect his awe and inspiration at the way people were pulling together to do all they could for the cause. On April 9th, in the Philippines, Bataan fell to the Japanese. Blanding was inspired to write the poem "Bataan Falls," to express his admiration for the soldiers who did everything they could to hold onto this remote part of the world. He probably sat up late one night in a dingy hotel room, penning the words to the poem, and would start reciting it in his upcoming lectures.

     When Blanding's lecture circuit took him to San Francisco on April 25th, he decided he couldn't keep out of the effort anymore, so after 25 years of civilian life, he signed up for the army again. In a somewhat wistful accounting, Blanding described the experience later in the evening:

     Blanding returned from his lecture circuit in June, and three months later reported to duty at Camp Upton, in New York as a private.

to be continued....

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