So never mind the link to BHA website - I am having trouble getting the PDF to load, really not tech savvy here - but I wanted to publish this blog post on the actual day - so I am publishing it - and will fix the link to the newsletter as soon as I can!
Also, there is a great round up of World War I info in today's Times Union newspaper. Here are a couple of links.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/World-War-I-gallery-of-Times-Union-April-1917-11053824.php#photo-12675679
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Local-museums-spotlighting-N-Y-s-role-11053820.php
And finally, below is the article I wrote for the February 2017 edition of Our Towne Bethlehem that takes a look at John Dyer, a Bethlehem veteran of the war.
I often close these blog posts by saying "Enjoy!" but that doesn't really work for today's post. So, I think I'll end with BHA's motto: Live for Today, Dream of Tomorrow, Learn from Yesterday.
Bethlehem During World War I
A Look at John Adams Dyer
A Look at John Adams Dyer
100 years ago
in April, the United States of America entered World War I. Centennials such as
this offer a time to pause and reflect and wonder about our local history
during a transformative era in American history.
Perhaps
you’ve heard of Nathanial Adams Blanchard?
The Blanchard Post in Delmar is named after him and every year before
the Memorial Day Parade, the members of the post lay a wreath at his gravesite. Blanchard, son of Grace Adams and Clarence
Blanchard, was killed in action in France on November 9, 1918, just two days before
the armistice of November 11. But have
you heard of his cousin, John Adams Dyer?
His story too has a tragic ending.
John Adams
Dyer is the son of Jessie Adams (sister of Grace) and Zeb A. Dyer. The couple married in 1889 and their son John
was born in Delmar September 24, 1891. Zeb was a prominent lawyer active in the
Democratic party and elected Albany County District Attorney in 1899. He died
of typhoid fever at the age of 43 on September 18 1904. John was not quite 13 years old.
The Dyers
lived right next door to the Blanchards on Kenwood Avenue in the heart of the
Four Corners. One can imagine the
cousins, four years apart in age, hanging out together. Dyer went to the Albany
Academy and was on the baseball and hockey team. His time there, with the
academy’s emphasis on military procedures and training in leadership, would
have served him well after his enlistment. When he filled out his Draft
Registration Card, Dyer listed his place of address as Delmar and occupation as
automobile salesman with H. E. Lishman in Troy, NY.
Congress
declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, but it took time for the U.S. to gear
up. On June 26, the first 14,000 troops
arrived in France to relieve the war battered soldiers of France and Great
Britain. It wasn’t until the summer of
1918 that U.S. troops arrived in Europe in large numbers. The Selective Service
Act was enacted in May of 1917. From
these registrations, the U.S. military built up and by the end, over four
million people had been mobilized for the war effort. John Dyer was among the first rounds selected
for Albany County. On September 8, 1917,
he was inducted at Delmar, and he and other Albany County men soon found
themselves on a special train bound for Camp Devens in Ayers, Mass.
Camp Devens
was the regional cantonment set up to train the draftees. Dyer was assigned to 76th Division
of the National Army, Company L of the 303rd infantry. By the time his unit was sent overseas on July
7, 1918, Dyer was a Sergeant. The 303rd
was part of the American Expeditionary Forces.
Reportedly, the 76th was assigned to a depot division at St
Aignan, France and the division was soon broken up with cadres of soldiers going
to the front to replace and relieve those already in place. One source for the 76th division
“battle honors” lists the St. Mihiel Offensive, a successful drive by General Pershing’s
forces against the Germans.
Here we lose
track of Dyer specifically. Was he
assigned to the frontlines in France?
Did he experience the horrors of trench warfare? The blasts of
artillery? The fumes of mustard gas? The death and destruction? We simply don’t
know. His record indicates that he
served overseas from July 7, 1918 until July 9, 1919. At the time of his honorable discharge on
July 30, 1919, he was a Second Lieutenant. Dyer then came home to Delmar, and
lived with his mom.
We know he
continued as a car salesman, and later was a salesman for Dearstyne Brothers,
purveyors of fine cigars. He was a
member of the Masters’ lodge of Masons, the Knights Templar and the
Shrine. The local newspapers have a few
mentions of Dyer after he came home from the war. In 1922, he helped organize a social for the
Delmar Democratic Club (a concert and dance at the Delmar fireman’s hall). In
1923 there is a mention of his name in a long list of attendees of a Tawasentha
Chapter DAR card party and dance also held at the Delmar firehall. And then
there is this headline from the January 2, 1925 issue of the Altamont Enterprise: “John Dyer Dies of
Gas Fumes in Delmar Garage.” His mother Jessie found him behind the wheel of
his car in a closed garage dead from carbon monoxide poisoning. He was just 33
years old
What to make
of this tragic story of a life cut short? Bethlehem’s local history is part of
the story of our national history. Many from Bethlehem served overseas in the
military during World War I. Many others
remained behind and supported the war effort on the home front. What was Bethlehem like 100 years ago? The Bethlehem Historical Association is
exploring questions like these and is looking for your input. Was one of your relatives a Doughboy serving
on the Western Front? Perhaps one of your family was part of the Woman’s Land
Army or served with the Red Cross?
Please consider sharing your information. You may contact me at sleath@townofbethlehem.org
or contact Karen Beck of the Bethlehem Historical Association, 439-9260, bethhist1965@gmail.com.
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