Send the Alabamians: World War I Fighters in the Rainbow Division

11. Return of the Immortals, May 7-13, 1919

11 return of the immortals, may 7–13, 1919 Fewfamilymembersmetthereturningheroesinnewyork,buttwowomenfrom Greenville were there.Although d Company’s SergeantWorth lewis had been killed in the bayonet attack at Croix rouge Farm on July 26, 1918, his mother and sister welcomed the debarking regiment onApril 25, 1919.1 the two ladies had visited Camp mills in 1917 to see the unit off to France,and this welcoming closed the circle.the lewis family greeted d Company as family members, and the men loved them for it.2 Alabama governorthomas e. Kilby sent official representatives at state expense to greet the regiment, which had lost almost three-fourths of allAlabama soldiers killed in the war. Kilby assigned lieutenant Governor herman miller to lead a thirty-five-person reception committee greeting the regiment from a tugboat in newyork harbor, then to visit it in hoboken, new Jersey, and in its temporary home at Camp merritt, new Jersey. the delegation met with Screws’s staff to plan the 167th’s return toAlabama and to connect it with local welcoming committees in huntsville,Albany-decatur,Anniston, birmingham, montgomery, and mobile.3 the waiting period fromApril 25 to may 7 passed quickly at Camp merritt. officials oversaw administration, assigning units to barracks and trains, processing soldiers,and issuing army orders for travel,pay,and discharge.the regiment processed fifty-one officers and about fourteen hundred men for return to the state and discharge at Camp Shelby,mississippi.4 those individuals not from Alabama were mustered out at Camp merritt if they wished,although they were invited to travel toAlabama for the celebrations.5 hospitalized veterans and discharged casuals also received invitations. large numbers of Alabama soldiers visited newyork City, where they were return of the immortals, may 7–13, 1919 / 201 welcomed with open arms. “Wild bill” donovan, national hero and darling of the newyorkers, in singling out the Alabamians for praise had described them as “a wild bunch, not knowing fear.”6 it was a high compliment from the man who later established the office of Strategic Services—a precursor to the Central intelligenceAgency—inWorldWar ii and who,at the time of his death,was the most decorated man inAmerica.7 no otherAmerican division was as well known in newyork as the rainbow. of the forty-one divisions in France at the end of the war, the 1st, 2nd, 42nd, and 89th had proven themselves the best.8 the 42nd,the only national Guard division among them, suffered casualties of 2,950 killed and 13,292 wounded—a total greater than half the division’s authorized strength of 28,000.the division incurred one-sixteenth of all casualties in theAeF.newyork City honored all its regiments—the 165th, 166th, 167th, and 168th—and all of its support troops. the camaraderie was mutual, and the Alabamians were happy when the beloved Father duffy was honored with a large statue intimes Square funded by donations.they came from many, including “many men of the rainbow from all over the country.”9 he had risen to the senior chaplain of the 42nd division, but, more than that, he was beloved and respected by all of the division’s men and the nation.10 W.t. Sheehan, editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, traveled to newyork and sent home stories about the regiment’s time at Camp merritt.11 various welcoming committees exchanged flurries of telegrams with the house Committee on militaryAffairs inWashington.the MontgomeryAdvertiser and other newspapers throughout the state carried information about events, and all reception committees prepared to activate their plans on forty-eight to sixty hours’notice. eventually, the men were released, and three troop trains of top-of-the-line, all steel,luxurious Pullman cars with a sleeping berth for every soldier left Camp merritt on may 7.the soldiers had never traveled first class before, and they reveled in the luxury as they turned south toward home and glory.12 the Journey throughAlabama en route to their mustering-out site in mississippi,the men would travel through much ofAlabama and various communities on their way to planned celebrations. the men enteredAlabama on may 9 to a wide range of fanfare. the fifteen-car train carrying d and e Companies and their many huntsville 202 / Chapter 11 men stopped in madison County, where pretty girls bombarded the soldiers with flowers.the Huntsville DailyTimes reported that thousands of citizens met the soldiers at the...