Growing Up in the Trenches: Fritz Draper Hurd and the Great War
Class Year
2015
Document Type
Article
Date of Creation
11-2014
Department 1
History
Abstract
On February 18, 1919, Second Lieutenant Fritz Draper Hurd supervised recreational activities for the men of the 103rd Field Artillery. The men breathed easy; they tossed a football and even engaged in a little gallows humor with a “gas mask race,” at last finding a use for the once fearsome yet no longer needed device. The Great War was over, and the men of the 103rd Field Artillery were content to lob footballs instead of shells as they awaited their discharge papers.
In 2012, Hurd’s alma mater, Gettysburg College, acquired the veteran’s diary, a scrapbook documenting his wartime achievements, and the transcript of a memoir an aging Hurd dictated in 1976. Supporting these three items are remarkable pieces of Western Front ephemera: an unopened first aid kid; the musette bag he used as an officer; a trench knife complete with brass knuckles on the hilt; letters; pamphlets; photographs; and a beautifully knitted pair of socks. Taken together, the collection offers a glimpse into a coming of age story typical of an average American college student during the First World War. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, S. Marianne. "Growing up in the Trenches: Fritz Draper Hurd and the Great War." Adams County History 20 (November 2014).
Required Publisher's Statement
Original version is available from the Adams County Historical Society at: http://store.achs-pa.org/category-s/1828.htm