Tueday September 16, 1930

Soon the ladies would part company, each returning to her home state. Perhaps today, after the storm, was a good day to share some reflections about the pilgrimage with each other. On some return voyages to America, mothers distributed and read poems about what the pilgrimage had meant to them.

The pilgrims had been tested by strenuous scheduling, new foods and beverages, seasickness, different surroundings and customs, endless ceremonies, and being surrounded by strangers in a strange land.

The mothers and widows had walked to the graves of their sons and husbands. Seeing the grave of their sons and husbands would never ease the pain of having lost a loving son or beloved husband. But it helped. Putting a mother’s or widow’s heart at peace were what the pilgrimages were all about.

The wonderful though sad act of finally standing at graves they had longed to see for 12 years brought solace and satisfaction that their sons and husbands were not forgotten and would receive perpetual care in a dignified setting.

So they could say, on this return trip to America: “Let us be joyful as home we go.”

We have the words of three members of Party R describing their impressions of the pilgrimage:

Mrs. Octavia Hobgood of Baton Rouge said it was “the most wonderful trip I ever took or even dreamed of.”

Mrs. Mary Everson of Missouri reported: “We have been feted, feasted, and flattered until we hardly know ourselves. A most wonderful trip. Have enjoyed every moment of it.”

Mrs. Fannie Fine of Missouri wrote: “We are homeward bound, happy we came, and now we are going home with contentment in our hearts, having seen the sacred spots. We are glad we left them sleeping where they fell, for we could never take such beautiful care of the graves as they take of them in France.”

We have no words from Josephine. Did she echo the words of Mrs. Hobgood, Mrs. Everson, and Mrs. Fine? Perhaps she also echoed the words of another mother from another pilgrimage: “The year 1930 was good to us and we shall never forget it.”

It had been a long trip with a very full itinerary for each day of the two weeks spent in France. Might Josephine have agreed with another mother from another pilgrimage: “I have seen so much. I am eager to be home again, just to rest, for I am so tired.”

Would Josephine have said: “Now that I know how fine Buddy’s resting place is, I’m ready to go back home.”

Some pilgrims kept in touch with some of the traveling companions they had met on the pilgrimage. I wonder if Josephine did the same.

Almost all of the mothers had nothing but kind words for the Army escorts who accompanied them on their journey:

“Our military escorts were grand to us. Everything was planned for our comfort from the time we left our homes until we were safely home again.”

“All our attendants were men well fitted for their places and by their care and tenderness for us made the trip perfect.”

“. . . always on hand to tell when we were approaching something of interest, explaining things we did not understand, infinite patience and courtesy, explaining military tactics.”

“Everything was done for us. And they thought of everything. Officers to meet us everywhere we went. Doctors and nurses to take care of us if we were sick. They gave us maps to go by and we were in the best hotels. We had a wonderful trip.”

Captain John Noll, an Army escort for various pilgrimages (but not Josephine’s) reported that most of the women left France with thankfulness that the graves of their boys were being so carefully tended by the United States government. That gratitude also extended toward their government for the opportunity of visiting their dead and for the splendid courtesies extended to them by everyone connected with the pilgrimage.

The escort team had good things to say about the mothers:

The head of the nurses who worked on the various pilgrimages praised the “remarkable manner in which these elderly women have held up under the long journey and the way in which they always are ready to smile, no matter how tired they are.”

As Josephine enjoyed this day before the Captain’s Farewell Dinner tomorrow night, would she have said:
“I’m so glad I came and so is every one else who did.”


Source: written by Carolyn Ourso