PSAP #2: Zenos R. Miller World War l - Diary 2

ZENOS R. MILLER WORLD WAR I DIARIES - DIARY 2

1. What do you notice? What do you wonder?

The first thing I noticed was the detail of the diary. It specifically wrote in each of every event and dates by Zenos R. Miller. He almost wrote every single day and did not want to miss any of the things that happened in his daily life. I also curiously about the zodiac symbols surrounding 1918 and wondering about what did Miller thinking when he chose this "Daily reminder." As I mentioned, one thing that stood out to me about this diary because the date on the top of each page and how Miller has described his everyday events such as visiting somebody or had dinner with his friends. He also mentioned his schedule went to the camp or on the call of duties. Sometimes he expressed his emotion or thought about how he felt but sometimes he also narrated the stories without any feeling.

2. Source: https://transcription.si.edu/view/17875/NASM-NASM-9A16128-360

This is the diary of Zenos R. Miller entitled “Daily Reminder 1918" which covers the period January 1 – December 25, 1918. Miller was a pilot with the 27th Aero Squadron of the United States Air Service during World War l. He was credited with shooting down four German aircraft before he was shot down on July 16, 1918. This is one of two diaries of Miller that he wrote about his aviation activities and life in the prisoner of war camp. The entries entered by Miller before he was shot down and became a prisoner of war. He was held as a prisoner of war at Landshut and Villingen before he was freed by the Armistice in November of 1918. This was one of the diary pages that Miller has written after he freed and he went to had lunch with his fellows. Spent his Christmas day with them and this seemed like the last day in 1918 he wrote the diary.

3. Context:

In 1917, the Bolsheviks signed a treaty with Germany and formally pulled Russia out of the war by the spring of 1918. German transported thousands of troops from eastern to western Europe then launch an offensive to overrun France. The American troops joined the battle and were able to blunt the German advance. After the battle, nearly 50,000 Americans were killed. The terms of the armistice were harsh make Germany had to sign the peace treaty. 1918 could be an important year that marked a lot of memorable events for Miller, he was trained with the 27th Aero Squadron and caught as a prisoner of war, until freed after the Armistice. All of it was written down in his diaries in 1918, he mentioned the "destruction of an enemy balloon" (Miller 197) of him or jokes like "Lt. Miller lacked but one machine of being an "ace" (Miller 203). On December 25, 1918, he wrote in the final entry in his datebook “Was glad not to have to spend Xmas day alone. Saw Clark, as well he was all dolled up and had a date with some little French miss who turned him down. Poor boy oh!” (Miller 359).

References:

https://maryklann.wixsite.com/hist110/post/module-14-world-war-i

https://transcription.si.edu/project/17875

4. Implications/Conclusions:

In my opinion, Miller's diaries considered the witness of history where it covers pages and pages about American pilot's experiences, the battles that Miller has fought, life as a prisoner in war camp during the World War l. Those are the valuable pieces of history information have left for us, to remind us not to forget about all of these historical milestones. From it, we can understand and learn American history in different aspects such as what they had to suffer from the war and how they overcame it. In this diary, we know more about the brave soldiers, they sacrificed to serve the nation, tried to complete their duties. Miller's diary showed the spirit of an American and constantly training to become "an ace" in the Squadron during the war. He was not too rigid, but he also has a sense of humor, a pleasant thought that always feels thankful after each meal with his fellow, a spirit of learning, and a heroic heart. With all of Miller's "memories," it more than deserves for us to save and examine because it is a part of history.

5. Discussion Question:

What do you think about Zenos R. Miller after you read about his diary's piece of information? In other words, your feeling about him like respect? or admire?