TRANSCRIBED FROM THE DAILY ARKANSAS GAZETTE JANUARY 12, 1919 P. 30
When I was awakened by a jar I found the ship leaning to one side and the giant waves pounding the ship against the sand so hard we thought sure she would go to pieces. This was bad, because we had 1,700 wounded on board, of whom 500 were badly wounded.
When dawn broke we were only 300 yards from shore, but might as well have been a hundred miles away, for the breakers in between were so big that no boat and no person could live five minutes in them. Seventeen ships, destroyers, tugs, etc. gathered around us but could not get nearer than 600 yards on account of the high sea.
At night the wind rose to a perfect hurricane. The waves broke over the top of the vessel and it went to pieces inside quite a bit, the decks warping and cracking, but the hull stood it very well.
Finally the awfulest night I ever spent came to an end, the wind lulled and drifted away. Just what we needed.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by Lieutenant Samuel Clifford Warner to his sister. He was born on June 15, 1895 in Ozark, Arkansas and died on May 9, 1971 in Russellville, Arkansas. He is buried in the Rest Haven Park Cemetery in Russellville. He was writing about his experiences when he was returning from France on the United States transport Northern Pacific. The boat went aground January 1, 1919 on a sandbar near Fire Island, 60 miles off the coast of New York. There was 2480 service men on the ship including the hospital cases.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
When I was awakened by a jar I found the ship leaning to one side and the giant waves pounding the ship against the sand so hard we thought sure she would go to pieces. This was bad, because we had 1,700 wounded on board, of whom 500 were badly wounded.
When dawn broke we were only 300 yards from shore, but might as well have been a hundred miles away, for the breakers in between were so big that no boat and no person could live five minutes in them. Seventeen ships, destroyers, tugs, etc. gathered around us but could not get nearer than 600 yards on account of the high sea.
At night the wind rose to a perfect hurricane. The waves broke over the top of the vessel and it went to pieces inside quite a bit, the decks warping and cracking, but the hull stood it very well.
Finally the awfulest night I ever spent came to an end, the wind lulled and drifted away. Just what we needed.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by Lieutenant Samuel Clifford Warner to his sister. He was born on June 15, 1895 in Ozark, Arkansas and died on May 9, 1971 in Russellville, Arkansas. He is buried in the Rest Haven Park Cemetery in Russellville. He was writing about his experiences when he was returning from France on the United States transport Northern Pacific. The boat went aground January 1, 1919 on a sandbar near Fire Island, 60 miles off the coast of New York. There was 2480 service men on the ship including the hospital cases.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT