Herbert Stone

Herbert Stone was the first young man to enlist after the declaration of war. News of his enlistment was published in the April 13, 1917 issue of the Lindsborg Record just one week after the declaration. A young Stone was working in the drug store, dispensing ice cream when a recruiter from McPherson approached him saying the Kansas National Guard needed volunteers. He signed up and was administered the oath on the spot. [2]

Corporal Herbert Stone of the 137th Infantry Company D recounts with some detail his experiences during wartime in the letters that he sent home. From his first letters it can be understood that the Americans were fighting hard. It seems, from Stone’s letters, that morale could almost never be higher. Through the details and information that Stone gives in his letters, life in the trenches, or even war in general, can be better understood. Stone even goes as far as to mention ‘the Lindborg boys’ in one of his letter. This same letter also acknowledges the injury of Willard Larson during a time of action. [3]

 

Herbert Stone describes trench life with mention of a great lack of sleep and excitement for any type of mealtime. Reading Herbert Stone’s letters help to describe the life of the American soldier during World War 1, and that of the Kansas soldier. [5]

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[1] 1917. The Daisy.

[2] Lindsborg News Record, April 13, 1917

[3] The Lindsborg Record. 1918. November 8: 4.

[4] Ibid.

[5] The Lindsborg Record. 1918. December 6: 8.

[6] Ibid.