Arcille Guillory Returns to
"Dear Old Home"
Jan. 17, 1919 - We get up 4 am, … we hike ¼ miles to go kitchens for eat mush & syrup… 3000 men hike with pack 3 miles on rock hard road, we get warm & clothes wet. We rest 3 time, 10 minutes each time only. We get at station 12 oclock noon. We rest little while we saw the small boats coming, coming get us to go to Dear old U.S.A…. Left France Jan. 16, we stay on the boat till Jan. 26. We stay on the boat 8 long days & 9 night, {to} sleep {we}… lay down on table & on floor & under table. …Boat make move to start, we all fall down floor, sick bad for three days. I walk in another room, sick bad when I wake up in morning, I look around, I see two men down floor with me, sick bad. We stay 3 day sick, can’t eat, bad heart, can’t eat before 3 days.
Ask to comrade Frank Hook of Banks, Ark. he will tell you how we pass hard time on the boat. …Hood was sick same room with me, he ask me "Guillory, get me some water…I am sick, can’t eat", he was sick, lay down on floor, he say "Guillory, come see me, bring me some water & something to eat". And when Hook went buy some saucage [sausage] to eat he come to me. He offer "you want some saucage", I say yes, we help one other. When one man buy something to eat, other help him to pay. {taken from diary’s conclusion}
I went to the table after 3 days I was sick. I eat little hard bread, was cook about 15 days, was on ice, hard like rock, good for hogs. We been buy some apple, we pay 3 for $0.25. I went one time to other end, the boat had store, to buy me some apple but we was line up to one behind other, take me about 4 hour to get my apple. I buy me for $1.60 apple & meat. When I come back to the table in our room, they was finish to supper, and I eat only what I bought…, that what we call hard life, hard time…. Well when we get up in this side one morning on Sunday Jan. 26, 1919. We wake up, we was at New York city. We saw the land this side, is [it] was U.S.A. land. …We was glad, some thinking about old home. …We get of [off] the boat, we went take train to the camp mills New York. We ride 22 miles to camp mills, we stay there 4 days. We get a pass, we went to see New York City, Large city I see.
Jan. 29, 1919 - They all divide {us} up different camp… Comrade Hook went to Camp Pike, Ark. to get his discharge and I went to Camp Shelby, Miss. …We take train 4 pm…, we ride till Feb. 3, 1919; we cross all that State I named here: New Jersey, D.C., Virginia, N.C., S.C., Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi. …We ride 3 days & 3 night on train before get of [off], we pass hard time, and we think of Dear old home…
Feb. 11th 1919 - I got my discharge at Camp Shelby, Miss. Feb. 11th, 1919. …We stay at depot till 4:30 pm, me and Edwin Robert & Adam Naquin…We went to Hattisburg, Miss., change train, we stay there 1 hour, we take another train, come to New Orleans,…look like I was near home at New Orleans. …To [too] late to take any train to come home, we have to stay at New Orleans till next morning. We stay together in New Orleans that night, me and Johnnie D. Teer of Coushatta, La. …We get up …Wednesday morning, we went get car to go to depot, we went in car together to his depot, after I went to union depot and take train 7:30 a.m. I get Eunice, La. 2 pm. I change, I take S..P. train at Eunice. I come to Mamou, La. For 6 pm. I get buggy with Adam Fontenot, he bring me to Olean Fontenot. After, Olean Fontenot bring me here to Dear old home… I got back home from France Feb. 12th 1919 for 12 oclock night.
I went to American Legion meeting at Oakdale Post at River. We had Large crowd of our comrade meeting together, lot speaker. I meet lot comrade been in france & other camp. We had lot thing to eat & drink…
It is quite probable that Arcille was attached to the 87th Division of the National Army. Established in August of 1917, the Division was based at Camp Pike in Arkansas and consisted in part of 13,582 drafted men from Louisiana. Troops were moved overseas from June to September, 1918, to Le Harvre and Cherbourg, France via England. The 87th was then divided among the western/central-western French Departements where it engaged in a variety of duties. The soldiers began their journey home to America in December of 1918.
All omissions and additions are noted, some commas have been added to assist in comprehension.
