In this World War I account, Corporal Joe Robinson describes his experience at the front. Robinson, a member of the 142nd Infantry Regiment Band, was part of the clean-up crew, picking up U.S. Government property left by soldiers. He only experienced the front when “he was detailed to go get us some pistols,” and then was hit by a “G2 can explosion.”
This document comes from a collection of “Personal War Experiences” that WWI servicemen were asked to write after their return from the front during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The men were personnel of the 36th Division – known as the Lone Star Division, formed from the Texas and Oklahoma National Guard – of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).
