Brittle pages in a photo album give a glimpse back more than 100 years ago to “The Great War.”
Leon C. Healy served with the U.S. Army in France during World War I. Pasted within the album are photos showing various scenes from World War I. President Wilson arriving in Brest, France. Notre Dame with bombed rubble surrounding it. A July 4, 1918, celebration in Paris. U.S. servicemen going about their duties on land and sea. Dead German soldiers. Graves of U.S. soldiers buried on foreign soil.
Pasted inside the front cover is a certificate showing Healy completed transportation training, along with quartermaster corps duties and military drill at Camp Joseph E. Johnston in Florida on Aug. 17, 1918.
In 1918 Camp Joseph E. Johnston, situated on 13,000 acres near Jacksonville, Florida, included a 600-building complex and was the largest of the Army’s Quartermaster mobilization and training camps, according to the University of Florida’s “Florida in World War I” webpage. It was also home to the nation’s second largest rifle range. The base closed in 1919 and the property is now part of Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
The album includes a Christmas postcard that Healy sent from France to his friend Hazel. The back of the postcard is dated Dec. 1, 1918, and reads:
Dear Friend Hazel,
Just thought I would surprise you by sending a card from France. I haven’t the least idea where you are but am taking a chance on Johnstown. Hope you have a Merry Xmas & Happy New Year. - Sgt. L.C. Healy
A letter dated Aug. 25, 1919, in France informed him of transfer and “incorporation into the casual companies for return to the United States and discharge.”
Healy returned home to marry Hazel. Healy’s daughter, Marilyn Miller, is a resident at Franklin House. Miller said her father was an ambulance driver in France but that he never talked about the war. Leon and Hazel were both from New York, but Miller said they moved to Florida when she was eight because the doctor told her father he needed to live somewhere with a better climate. She said he was always interested in cars and also worked for “Ma Bell,” the AT&T telephone company.
After Healy died the album passed to Hazel, then Marilyn’s sister and now Marilyn, who is 97. She recently gave the album to a member of 828 Vets to find a secure place for the photographic history.
Veterans Day Parade
The Franklin Veterans Day parade will be held Tuesday, Nov. 11 on Main Street. Lineup begins at 10:30 a.m. in the lower level parking lot at Town Hall. All veterans are invited to attend and will walk with banners designating each war era. A program will follow at 11 a.m. at the gazebo.
Veterans Portrait Project
The Macon County Art Association will present its annual Veterans Portrait Project on Tuesday, Nov. 11 beginning at noon at Uptown Gallery on Main Street. The public is invited to meet the veterans as they received their portraits painted by local artists.
Veterans Day closings
Macon County and Town of Franklin government offices will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.
The Macon County Landfill, Highlands Transfer Station, and all the convenience centers will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The Macon County Public Library will be closed.
The post office will be closed and there will be no mail service. Banks will be closed as well.