[The following is part of a firsthand account of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic’s first major killing grounds at Camp Devens, about thirty-five miles northwest of Boston, in September 1917.]
Dr. Roy Grist, one of the army physicians at the hospital, wrote a colleague, “These men start with what appears to be an ordinary attack of LaGrippe or Influenza, and when brought to the Hosp. they very rapidly develop the most vicious type of Pneumonia that has ever been seen. Two hours after admission they have the Mahogany spots over the cheek bones, and a few hours later you can begin to see the Cyanosis extending from their ears and spreading all over the face, until it is hard to distinguish the coloured men from the white.”
[…]
Grist continued, “It is only a matter of a few hours then until death comes… It is horrible. One can stand it to see one, two or twenty men die, but to see these poor devils dropping like flies… We have been averaging about 100 deaths per day… Pneumonia means in about all cases death… We have lost an outrageous number of Nurses and Drs., and the little town of Ayer is a sight. It takes special trains to carry away the dead. For several days there were no coffins and the bodies piled up something fierce… It beats any sight they ever had in France after a battle. An extra long barracks has been vacated for the use of the Morgue, and it would make any man sit up and take notice to walk down the long lines of dead soldiers all dressed and laid out in double rows… Good By [sic] old Pal, God be with you till we meet again.”
Source:
Barry, John M. “It Begins.” The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Penguin Books, 2009. 187-88. Print.
Further Reading:
1918 Influenza Pandemic / Spanish Flu
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