Primary Source Analysis Post #2 Zenos Miller

I read through this diary, even though they talk about some things that are brutal to have been experienced by anybody they did have some entries held a healthy sense of humor. There were lots of entries that I could have chosen from that popped out to me, but I decided to go with one that was a little more lighthearted than some of the others. There were many entries that depicted the sadness and frustration of not knowing where they were going and what they were doing, and missing contact with loved ones. I noticed there was mention of soldiers going AWOL as well as Zenos just up and leaving a few days at a time. I noticed they tried to have fun when they could and missed those who didn’t make it back when they went out on flights. There was a lot about people getting hurt and/or killed in accidents. More than a few entries mentioned acquiring dope and being very happy about that. The writer was also happy when his fellow soldiers invited him to spend time and meals them and family Just other people inviting him to have lunch or go to church made him very happy and I got the sense he enjoyed those times a lot.

“As with dismay we take in surroundings we almost long for Texas. Move to barracks 13. Transfer to 20. Squadron quarantined for 7 days because of case of scarlet fever. Great joy in squadron. Officers made if possibly more happy by the information that there is no water running in toilet.

Curtain”. I chose this entire because it felt sassy and sarcastic to me and was less morbid than some of the other entries. I liked that the writer held onto his humor in the face of tough times. A big thing I noticed was the use of things, events, and humor to act as a distraction from Mr. Miller’s life at the time.

The source is a series of diary entries written mostly by Zenos Miller. He was a pilot who served with the US Air Service for WW1, his diary spanned from Jan. 1, 1918 to Dec. 25, 1918. The entries contents ranged from very serious and a bit dark to lighthearted joking and as well as the boring day to day life that would have made up a soldier’s life at that time. There wasn’t really a way to tell which people had written which sections as there was no signatures or indicators but supposedly this diary of Zeno’s held entries written by others. Zenos ended up a prisoner of war and was freed some time in November of 1918. I’m not sure if there was an intended audience other than himself and was just a way of recording the happenings of Zenos Miller and others. As well as possibly being a way to process what their life had become.

https://transcription.si.edu/view/17875/NASM-NASM-9A16128-029_030

<Arrived in New York this morning. Train moved us right out to Concentration Camp on L.I. As with dismay we take in surroundings we almost long for Texas

Move to barracks 13. Transfer to 20. Squadron quarantined for 7 days because of case of scarlet fever. Great joy in squadron. Officers made if possibly more happy by the information that there is no water running in toilet.

Curtain

27

Sunday, Jan 27, 1918

The squadron sits arround folornly. Lt. Pierce and Lt. Pruden cuss because they cannot get to town and because they can't telephone to family & parteners. The rest are glum.

Moy and I crash thru a field and manage to find our way to Hempstead get lost on the way back. Moy naievely asks a solder "Where is camp". Plough thru snow up to our knees. "Exercising" gets to be a common sport. for quarantined officers.>

During the time of this diary being written it would have been the final year of the war, many entries when they mentioned receiving money were very upbeat and excited. I imagine that funds towards the end of the war became scarce as well as the availability of satisfactory equipment. Miller was very proud of a jacket and waterproof trench coat he had purchased. He hated his boots and was looking to get rid of them because they never fit good. There was mention of disrespect from younger soldiers when regarding senior staff and it makes me wonder if that was common from newer soldiers, especially from drafted soldiers as compared to those that were voluntary in their enlistment. There was a bit of soldiers going AWOL mentioned and I’m sure that was a common thing that happened. Zenos Miller’s diary never gave any hints but I did wonder if he had enlisted voluntarily or was picked up by the draft in 1917 and joined because it was that or risk having to labor in a State Penitentiary and be looked down on by other citizens. See: https://maryklann.wixsite.com/hist110/post/module-14-world-war-i There would have been a strong push for more soldiers, but I wonder how many people actually wanted to go. I know there was a lot of propaganda being spun at the time to help with reluctant citizens, but people also would have been aware of just how bad it was out there.

I think this little window into a WW1 soldiers’ daily life was important for understanding more of what went on at that time. Life was very hard as a soldier and a lot of the people who joined were hurt or killed, the people who were stuck in this situation often felt alone, scared, sad and mad. These diary entries display a wide range of emotions over events both significant and mundane, it did give a bit of realness and humanness to the people of this time that textbooks just tend to lack. I think this source and others like it were saved so others could catch a glimpse of those everyday average people, just like us, who were going through and were dealing with something as great as World War 1. It is a way to investigate the past and see how those before us dealt with that situation.

Discussion Questions:

I’m genuinely curious if something were to happen and men and women were drafted, I would like to know how many of us would be willing to just go with it? Uproot your entire life, see friends and family risk their lives and safety as well as your own for a war. Would there be enough public backlash to prevent a draft from even starting with how our people’s current thoughts and feelings regarding wars?