WALKS FIFTY MILES ON CORK LEG TO ENLIST
Muskogee, Oklahoma, July 1917
After walking over fifty miles to enlist in the Marine Corps, John
Franklin was rejected in Muskogee, Oklahoma, due to his cork leg. Franklin
told Sgt.Herrman that he had been plowing on a farm near Wilberton, Okla.,
but that he did not have enough money to pay his railroad fare to Muskogee.
Consequently he walked, working from house to house for his meals. His
cork leg was noticeable only after he was stripped.
ETHAN ALLEN, USMC
Butte, Montana, July 1917
Ethan Allen, a direct descendent of the original Ethan Allen, of Fort
Ticonderoga fame, was accepted for enlistment in the Marine Corps at Butte,
Montana, on June 28. Allen has been principal of the school at Whitehall, Montana for the
past three years and has also taught in Ohio and North Dakota.
MOTHER BEGS MARINE CORPS TO TAKE HER SON
Buffalo, N.Y., July 1917
To Sergeant George B. McGee, I am the mother of a very unruly boy.
He is 17 years last August, most 6 feet in height, never been sick a day,
and I would like very much to enlist him in the Marines at once. I must
do something before it is too late. He just came home to me drunk and my
heart is broken. I can't see this sorrow any longer: he is getting worse
every day. Can you send a man here that could enlist him? Now please answer
this.
(Sgd.) H.L.V.
RECRUITER
MISTAKEN FOR CIGAR SALESMAN
Memphis, Tennessee, July 1917
The metal signs are all right, but I believe that other recruiters
will agree with me that they should be larger and changed in one respect,
i.e., by showing a picture of a Marine or some similar illustration. The
following incident will bear out this point. C.B. Starne, boatswain's mate,
1st class, of the Navy recruiting station and myself were out the other
day tacking up these signs, and went into a store to ask permission to
tack them on the fence. The owner came out and asked to see one of the
signs, and the one he saw was the Marine Corps sign. He said that I was
the first "cigar salesman" he had ever seen that wore a uniform and he
asked if I was advertising for "U.S. Marine cut plug tobacco".
Sgt. Baumgras, USMC
MARINES BREAK RULE TO
ACCEPT HARVARD GIANT
Boston, Mass., June 14, 1918
Francis Parkman, the giant Harvard oarsman, will be a Marine provided
the Corps can furnish a big enough uniform. Parkman is 6 ft. 4 in. in height,
two inches above the maximum in the Marine Corps. When he applied for enlistment
a few days ago after the Harvard crew had defeated Yale, the recruiting
officers were so enthusiastic over his splendid physical condition they
telegraphed Washington for special permission to waive the rule limiting
the height of recruits. Today, authorization to enlist the athlete was
received with the stipulation "provided you can fit him with a uniform."
HARVARD'S FOOTBALL CAPTAIN A MARINE
Boston, Mass., July 1917
Harvard's great Eddie Mahon was accepted for enlistment in the Marine
Corps on June 27, at Boston. Mahan led Harvard's eleven against Yale in
1915 and delivered the "Bull Dog" its biggest walloping.
CRACK YALE ATHLETES JOIN MARINE CORPS
New Haven, Conn., May 8, 1917
Five of Yale's leading athletes, of whom four have captained Yale teams,
are today enrolled for service with the Marines. They are Harry Le Gore,
the baseball captain and football star; Holcomb York, of the hockey team;
Louis Ferguson, who captained one of Yale's best swimming teams, and Johnny
Overton, the track and cross-country team captain and cross-country inter-collegiate
champion. All four will receive temporary commissions. Rex Hutchinson,
the football center and baseball outfielder, has also joined the Marine
Corps.
CIVIL WAR MARINE VOLUNTEERS
Recruiters' Bulletin, April 1917
John P. Fredd, a prosperous farmer of Pottstown, Pa., and a Civil War
Marine, aged 72, has offered his services to the Major General Commandant
in such capacity as he is suited.
ALL DECKED OUT
Salt Lake City, Utah, June 1917
On May 24 I did a little advertising for the Marine Corps through the
use of a show wagon in the parade of the Hagenback & Wallace Circus.
On the back of the wagon I had a Marine Corps recruiting flag and on both
sides had a storm flag. Wagon was otherwise decorated with flags and pictures
and I rode on top. My companion was an Arab in native dress. I distributed
literature along the line of march. The wagon was the best in the show
and was drawn by eight horses.
Sgt. Frank R. Busch, USMC
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