World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American
_Friday, July 6, 1917._
And now things begin to move. At seven this morning we were told that we
leave in the transport division for the training camp at seven tomorrow.
We must pack, buy the necessary incidentals, and see Paris in
twenty-four hours. Well, I did all my packing in two hours and had the
rest of the day to carry out my other plans.
Yesterday I was talking to another fellow interested in aviation. He has
been here some time. He said Dr. Gros, who is head of the Ambulance
Medical Advisory, is vice-president of the LaFayette Flying Corps, and
is the man to see. He gave us our physical examination this morning, and
I made a date to see him at one-thirty this afternoon. He gave me an
examination for the aero corps at two, and I passed it with ease. At
three I was released from the service of the American Ambulance Corps by
the help of a letter from Dr. Gros. At four I made out my application
for the LaFayette corps, and so in a day was accomplished what I had
allowed six months for. My plans go like clockwork. Fortune runs ahead
of me, and everything turns out better and quicker, but just as I
surmised it would. Dr. Gros is a personal adviser to the flying corps,
and he is a wonderful man. He talks to you with the interest of a father
and the intimacy of a friend. In asking his advice as to the
advisability of my making the immediate change, he, a member of both
organizations, said that every American’s duty was the place of highest
efficiency, and that if I were fitted for aviation it would be wrong to
waste my time in the field service, and he also said it was for me to
know if I were fitted for the higher service. Well, I have known that
for some time, and the American ambulance officials were very cordial in
their releasing me. They said that aviation was undoubtedly a higher
service, and that they would be glad to take back into their service
anybody with my spirit. (This was not a compliment.) It is what I have
wanted to do, but it keeps me from being stranded in case of some
unforeseen failure in aviation.
I still cannot believe the extent of my good fortune. While in Dr.
Gros’s office I talked with a man who came over on the _Chicago_ which
arrived four days before the _Rochambeau_. He said Al Winslow and his
friend had come over on that boat, and that they were staying at the
Hôtel Cécilia. As I could not stay at 21 Rue Raynouard, I immediately
went over and signed up for a room at fourteen francs a day—a room and
meals, for two dollars and eighty cents. I did not see Al, but I found
he was there. That evening the “Tech” Unit took dinner with Mr.
Lansingh, who came over to establish Technology Headquarters in France.
After dinner we went down to some _Folies_, and took in some speedy
Paris life.
_Saturday, July 7, 1917._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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