Arthur Patzlsperger
Era: World War I
Military Branch: Army
Mr. Patzlsperger served in World War I. He was assigned to the Park Battery B, Army Artillery and received training at Camp Mills, Long Island, New York and Frisco.
Before the war, he was employed as an Associate Buyer in the Stove Department of Marshall Wells Hardware Company. He apparently lived in Duluth.
Letter written by Mr. Patzlsperger to the Marshall Wells Hardware News (see below) “This is really the first good chance I’ve had to reply to your very interesting letter, received shortly before we left the Presidio. We are at present located at Camp Mills, Long Island, N.Y. and expect to be here for perhaps another week. This is a big mobilization camp, and at present accommodates about 100,000 men.
When it is completed, it will hold a million. We haven’t the conveniences here that we had at the Presidio. Sleep in squad tents, in place of barracks; no hot water and the shower room is roofless,. We must do our laundry; and, with cold water, it is rather difficult to get clothes clean.
The food we are getting is wholesome, no doubt, but it certainly isn’t appetizing, and we’re living on field rations. It is only natural that one should hear a lot of grumbling about the conditions, amongst the fellows; but, at that, I don’t believe there is one in our outfit who would take a discharge, if it was offered to him. The grumbling is only on the surface. Beneath it is the determination to stick to it, and see it through. Never the less, we’re all going to be glad to get back to civil life again - -after the Kaiser is licked.
A few hundred yards from our camp is a Curtiss airplane factory and a Government field. Airplanes are in the air all day long. The type used by the student aviators is the biplane and it is a classy looking boat. I have seen a couple of monoplanes and a big Italian plane, with three engines.
The loop-the-loop and nose spin is done every day right over our heads, and we are so used to seeing these “birds” that we don’t pay any more attention to them than we would to a flock of seagulls, which they resemble. I’ve been into New York City a couple of times. It’s only an hour’s ride from here, by electric train. Couldn’t “do” the city tight in twenty-four hours’ time, but saw many interesting. Do you ever hear from Coyle Walworth? I haven’t heard of him since I left Duluth. Well, it’s getting dark, so I’ll have to close. Remember me to my friends at M-W’s."
