OF Gardner to Gilbert F. Close

OF Gardner to Gilbert F. Close

OF Gardner

WWP21771

1917 August 5

OF Garnder writes to Gilbert Close about his belief that the real struggle of the American forces is for the foundation of humanity in light of the loose morals expressed by soldiers - officers and enlisted alike - who are freely participating in various sexual escapades while overseas.

Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers, 1786-1957

Dear Close:

I am addressing you at Princeton instead of direct. The chances of the letter reaching you will be none the less. I landed in France on the 4th day of July. The nation did not declare a holiday because of that fact but we landed just the same. It was an interesting trip across but I cannot go into that. From the first I have found myself in charge of a work which has to do entirely with your branch. Every day I am seeing men from Princeton as well as the other colleges. Dave Tibbott, Rahill, Copeland etc. They are going through an experience which last them a life time horrible beyond words for they are immersed in a cess pool of vice which is a disgrace to the uniform and to humanity. It is bestial in every sense of the word. Needless to say we need have no fear of a moral breakdown on their part for the whole thing is so bestial and disgusting that they are in no danger. The situation is this "New" and "old" are mixed with the old very largely predominating. Among the old, old ideals or the lack of them still exist. The customary precautions against disease are taken. The moral nerve has been cut and there is no longer any moral reaction whatsoever. Tradition says that the way to be a real man is to go the limit in every form of bestial indulgence and then to make that indulgence the topic of conversation at all times. Have this tradition taken as a matter of course and in all too many cases practised and upheld by those in authority and you get a glimpse of the hell in which a clean youngster with decency in his blood and training is compelled to live especially in view of the overcrowded quarters in which these men are living. If their patriotism survives at all it is of a higher order than we have a right to expect. I want you to get this thing as it is and therefore the following statement which I make in cold blood. I think my patriotism runs as high at least as that of the average man I think I realize as well as most men the great issues which are at stake in the present war. But if my five sons were old enough to fight and were as clean and decent as I hope they will be when they reach that age I would rather take them out and shoot them one by one than to have them enroll under that same old order. Imagine a port filled with women who for three years have been willing slaves of Portugese, Russian, French, English and North African and Oriental soldiers and sailors, and the following which goes with a war like this. Then imagine a selfrespecting American standing by and watching men in the uniform of his country of every rank and grade throwing off every semblance of decency and selfrestraint and throwing themselves into a riot of indulgence which would make even old Rome take notice.

As a background think of a Nation which has suffered and bled as no great nation ever suffered and bled before, a nation in which the faces of that great majority of respectable women show very plainly the refinement of the fire of a furnace breathed beyond comparisona nation too burdened with the death struggle in which it is engaged to be able to work out rules of moral sanitation for the protection of American weaklings even if its past history were such as to think it would be so inclined. Strange as it may seem I am not exaggerating. I have had officers who at home are respected and respectable and who are of our very best type tell me with tears in their eyes of their own experience. You may know what is happening among those who are not of that type. The whole thing is in the open and when men know that their officers are picking women off the street, when those officers step into the YMCA and pay those women off in the presence of their men (as has been done in at least two cases) when those officers have wives and children at home is it any wonder that all moral standards have disappeared and that many an American is hanging his head with shame. The great battle of this war which America can and ought to win and which would mean more for the world and humanity just now than any other is not that of the front trench or upon the sea but in the base camps. All that I have been saying is just by way of foundation for what is to follow. Leaving everything else out of the question it ought to be self evident that it is as important to prepare men for the life which awaits them here as it is to teach them the rudiments of drill or the manual of arms. The task is to change the tradition of the American Army and Navy and in its place set up one which will be worthy. The thing can be done for our men are the best on earth and can be reached by the right kind of an appeal but our officers must be trained from the start to realize that as a cold blooded matter of fact the morale of an army is as important as its knowledge of guns and tactics. Our Army is enlisted in a fight to the finish for humanity. Unless our present standard can be changed we may find that we are doing our full share to destroy the very foundations of society, even though we may do something to help win decisive economic and gun battles. Honestly I shudder to think of the future unless our officers training camps and the training camps of our soldiers and sailors are very carefully handled. I realize and appreciate the high stand taken by those highest in authority. That stand must however be followed up by the enlistment of the services of enough of the strongest and wisest men in America to educate and inspire the coming army in such a way that it will set a new standard in the world for morality among fighting men. The thing can be done but it must be done from the inside and officially. It cannot be done by an official order alone which does not touch the tradition itself and which may represent simply the idealism of one individual. It must be and can be made a part of the game. I trust to your discretion in the use of this letter. I have written only two such but things are desperate therefore I take the chances involved. I am well but my hair is turning gray.

Gilbert F. Close