Shady Rest: 1914

I believe that you can see the spire of the Central United Methodist Church in the background before it was relocated east when Woodward Avenue was widened.

My neighbor down the hill from our house is in his late '80s, still hale and hearty and a great shade-tree debater. Last month I learned for the first time that as a Boy Scout he was an attendant at the 1938 Gettysburg reunion and spoke with many veterans of the war. It's still not far gone in our history.

The soldiers on the far right and far left are carrying a U.S. issue M1904 Hospital Corpsman's Bolo Knife on their belts. These were not used for any real medical purpose, but rather for fashioning field splints, stretcher poles, and similar utilitarian uses. They were manufactured at the Springfield Armory between 1904 and 1914 and are quite valuable today.

The GAR held its first National Encampment in Indianapolis in November 1866. Its second would not be held until 1868 but they were annual events from then until 1949. Detroit had first hosted the National Encampment in 1891 but would not host it again after 1914.

Now that's a knife!

My mother has a story of watching veterans in a parade when she was a small child. It was just before the outbreak of World War II, probably in 1940 or 1941. First came the still-young World War I veterans, marching along at a good clip. Next were some 60-something veterans of the Spanish American war. They were marching too, but more slowly. Finally came the highlight of the parade, a few veterans of the Civil War, who must have been in their 90's. They rode in cars.

[World War 2 started in 1939. -Dave]