Ralph Stambaugh
From LibraryWiki
The Collection of World War I letters of Ralph Stambaugh is part of an extensive archive of correspondence belonging to the Stambaugh family. The son of Alice and George Stambaugh, Ralph grew up in Falls Church, Virginia. His father worked as a Postmaster in Washington D.C. and was often away, so out of habit the family was often writing to each other which yielded the rich collection dating from 1885 to about 1930.
Both of Ralph’s older sisters, Anna May and Josephine attended The Ohio State University in the early 1900’s. Ralph had previously been a member of the National Guard and state militia, but was drafted to the army later in the war. During 1917 and 1918, Ralph remained on American soil, he hoped for peace before he would be sent to France, yet found himself unhappy at Camp Greene in North Carolina and yearning for a change of scenery. Ralph had small jobs on the camp such as driving bread across camp, guarding prisoners, and later driving four mules; these jobs would later lead to his position in the Army Supply Company in France. Ralph often found himself quarantined due to outbreaks of spinal meningitis or mumps, and also had a hearing problem which interfered with his status as a healthy solider, (he hoped for Disability Discharge, which was never granted) yet he persevered receiving honors for his shooting skills and hoped to become a Corporal or Captain.
He waited patiently and finally in February 1918, he read on a bulletin board at Camp Greene that his company was being sent to France. Assuring his family that he would not be put on the firing squad because of his hearing, Ralph wrote that he would soon return and be able to boast about his overseas experience. Sadly, he would not be able to take leave and visit his family before departing. Ralph kept steady correspondence with his family, then in the summer of 1918, his family was receiving no response from their solider. Along with worry, returned mail began to arrive, stamped “Verified Deceased.” Ralph Stambaugh had been killed on July 18, 1918 during a battle at Chateau Thierry.
Included in Ralph’s archive are numerous letters, a Christmas Menu from Camp Greene in Charlotte, NC in 1917, and the last preserved letter from Ralph dated February 18, 1918 with which Ralph includes the words of a humorous poem circulated during the war entitled “The Kaiser’s Dream” which Ralph found in a Charlotte newspaper and on a bulletin board.
