1) What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Right away I noticed the drawings which was what set it apart from all of the other entries. I wonder if all of the pilots were issued these journals are they flight logs, or is this his personal journal to record the memories and events for the future. What are the drawings?
2) Sources:
The source is pictured above the journal is titled, "Daily Reminder 1918", it is a journal entry maintained by Lt. Zenos Miller of the 27th Aero Squadron of the then United States Air Service, the first Air Force aviation squadron ever stood up. The entries are dated to Monday, June 17th, 1918, and Tuesday, June 17th, 1918. Based on the front cover of the journal it was probably only meant for him to record anything worthy of noting as to report it to others at a later time or just for his own sake.
https://transcription.si.edu/view/17875/NASM-NASM-9A16128-169_170
https://maryklann.wixsite.com/hist110/post/module-14-world-war-i
https://www.15af.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1182484/air-forces-oldest-fighter-squadron-celebrates-centennial/ https://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/diary-world-war-i-ace-180952405/?page=2
3) Context:
Prior to this journal entry, major changes were happening in the European battlefield, more specifically in regards to a shift in power internally within Russia with the takeover by the Bolsheviks, later known as the Communist Party. Prior to the power shift, Russia was an allied power on the side of France, Britain, and the U.S., and others. Following the takeover in Russia they signed a treaty with Germany (Central power) and pulled out all of the troops standing in the way of a clear shot to France, Germany was on a western offensive toward France, no one stood in their way now (Module 14 Blog Post, Armistice section). This happened in the early months of 1918, where we are now caught up with Lt. Miller and the 27th Aero Squadron Mid-1918, at the time of the journal entries Lt. Miller was based out of Toul Aerodrome which was about 160 miles outside of Paris France.
(According to his Identification, Lt. Miller had red hair and blue eyes.)
What are the drawings?
The journal entry depicts 3 images, "None are drawn well but they represent Eagle Gargoyle and Cross of Loraine.", There was a vote on what image should be the insignia for the 27th Aero Squadron.
Above are pictures that will tell you what the squadron ultimately decided to be their insignia. I believe it was the right choice seeing as they are among the first in the sky for the U.S. during the deadly months leading to the armistice.
4) Implications/Conclusions:
This source is important as it shows the individual men that thwarted the German offense, during this period the U.S. was all that stood between the German and the French. There was a good amount of U.S. lives lost (around 50,000) in the battles that ensued between the powers. It humanizes events when you see and can look at all of the different journal entries and see they are just like us even today, on June 18th, 1918 Lt. Miller wrote of his night out in Toul, "Met some Canadian Sisters at Charmes Spent a very pleasant evening. Came back late in the evening But didn't get lost." This was was written a month before he was shot down and was thought to have perished. It makes you think about all of the individual stories of every one of those 50,000, even those on the other side, they are just fighting for their country and what they believe to be right, they believe they are the good guys too, not us.
5) Discussion Question:
What do you think the mindset was for these pilots set to defend France from the German attacks, were they expecting to get shot down, were they expecting to fall out of the sky, or do you think they paid no mind?
(keep in mind that aviation was a novel idea and tactic during the war. The first airplane was invented by the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903, prior to airplanes, balloons were normally used for recon/bombing missions.)
Hi Garrett! I really appreciate the research you did to answer your question about the drawings. These pages of Miller's diary are really fascinating, and even more so after reading your question about the mindset of pilots. Thinking about the relatively new technology that they were engaging with (and risking their lives to utilize!) kind of shifts my perspective of Miller a bit. This must have been at once incredibly stressful and incredibly normal--his diary reflects the daily tasks that shaped life, as well as the larger significance of what he was a part of.
Hi Garrett,
Sorry for a late response, trying to get caught up a bit here. Thank you for your great post. It was full of wonderful information. I like how you brought it down to the personal individual level. Not just for one side or the other but both. Many lives were lost and that is tragic no matter who it is. I think most pilots knew there was always a risk. Perhaps some of them even relished in this risk. I'm sure they all hoped that they successfully completed their missions each time they went up. It was probably near impossible to not pay it any mind at all. Thank you again for a great source analysis!