On Sunday, April 28th, 1917, a young 19 year old C.B. Strang, Jr. met with several other young men in Lindenwood, IL to see about entering the war via enlistment or waiting for the draft to come. On May 2nd, 1917, C.B. Strang, along with two of his friends, arrived at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.

“When I got back I reported to General Penn again. He said, ‘That is better. Is it loaded?’ I said, ‘Yes sir. It would not do me very little good if I wasn’t, I could not throw it far.’ He asked if I could hit anything and without thinking I said, ‘Throw up you hat.’ He laughed and said, ‘By God, I believe you would!‘” – C.B. Strang

My name is Jeremy Benton Strang (J.B.). I am one of Charles Phillip Strang’s (C.P.) two sons. C.P. was the only son of C.B. Strang. We, along with my only son Isaac Andrew, have decided to put together a few of my grandfather’s memoirs in the hopes of sharing some authentic history of a simple man during the World War One era.

The true author is my grandfather, for he is the one who lived his own life and left us the stories. My mother, Marian C. Strang, wife of Charles P. Strang, first transcribed C.B.’s WWI memoirs in 1977 and then his general life story in 1979. Much of this book has already been written, and although I have never done a book of this genre before, I have performed some minor editing. I have left the exact order as it was told and most of his direct original language. I feel that it is important for the reader to hear and experience just how the 81 year old C.B. told the story, with an edge of early 19 century wit.