Thankful Thursday: Coming Home from Over There

Just yesterday, we were talking about my wounded World War I grandpa and his friend.  As an update, I am still trying to confirm if the other guy in the 1919 photo taken at US Hospital at Parkview is who I think it is.  I did hear from one of his distant kin who shared the picture from his obituary.  It's still hard to confirm or deny since the picture used in the obituary is one of later life.  Although, looking at the ears and eye slant still have me leaning towards the identity.

In reading the military information I found on both men, I became curious as to why they had different return dates from Europe in early 1919.  More sleuthing was needed to uncover if memories were failing or if there was more to the story.

Search, search, search.  Bingo!  The answer was in the US Army Transport Service, 1910-1939, which can be accessed through Ancestry.com.   The two buddies came home on separate ships!

John D KERFOOT left Brest, France on Jan 11, 1919, and arrived in Hoboken, NJ on Jan 21, 1919, on the USS George Washington.  He is also listed as a "walking patient requiring dressing."

Grandpa, on the other hand, left Brest, France on Jan 26, 1919, and arrived in Hoboken, NJ on Feb. 3, 1919, on the USS Agamemnon.  He is also listed as a "sick and wounded, litter class."

Another note of interest is both of these troop transport ships began their lives as German liners and were taken over by the Americans in April 1917 when America entered the war.

USS George Washington on the left with the USS Agamemnon on the right
Photo found on www.nav.source.com

Ahh, genealogy.  Thankful these two wounded World War I veterans from southwest Pennsylvania made it home from "over there".


Sources:
Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/173004.htm

©2019  AS Eldredge