Andrew Tabak

Corporal Milkey, A Soldier's Diary Andrew Tabak

Walter Christian Milkey was a 22 year old accountant from New Britain, Connecticut when he was drafted as the country built up an army to fight World War I. Fortunately for posterity, his fiancé Nathalie Hanson, gave him the gift of a pocket diary to record his experiences. His daily entries amount to a scant 16 pages to which has been added some background information and images to bring you closer to walking in Walter's shoes and experiencing life at Camp Devens in 1918. As it was, Walter never went anywhere. He reported into Camp Devens on July 25, 1918 and did his duty there until he left the army in December 2, 1918 just after the end of the war. His story is more common than the stories of combat. Most people who serve in the military only fire their weapons on ranges. Still, he was there, in uniform, always certain that the day was quickly approaching that he too would be in trenches facing an enemy the French called the Boche (a slanderous reference to the Germans, literally the cabbage heads or blockheads).