Thanksgiving feast appreciated by World War I doughboys

One of the largest Thanksgiving gatherings in North Carolina occurred 105 years ago – on Nov. 29, 1917.

The location was near Charlotte, within the confines of Camp Greene, a U.S. Army infantry training camp. Its mission was to prepare “tens of thousands of doughboys for overseas service” during World War I.

 

The camp had begun operation in early September of 1917, so this was the first “homesick holiday” experienced by many of the men who were in the midst of boot camp, said Jessica A. Bandel of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Jessica Bandel

While undergoing basic training at Camp Greene, the soldiers were away from home, family and friends, she said. “To ease the inevitable feelings of homesickness and loneliness, military and civilian officials organized morale-boosting activities and attempted to restore to the men some semblance of regular life by observing national holidays with all the pomp and circumstance they would have found back home.” 

Thanksgiving in 1917 was the first opportunity do so. 

“Except for high-priority operations like guard duty, mess hall work and police details…all camp occupants were given the day off on Thanksgiving,” Bandel wrote.

 

“A bout of bad weather threatened to dampen spirits, forcing the cancellation of all outdoor sports, but the base YMCA would not be deterred.” As many events as possible were moved indoors, she said. Additionally, huts offered movie screenings, concerts and other social activities. 

“Dinner, however, was the highlight of the day, featuring all the hallmarks of the holiday meal they were missing back home,” Bandel said. “The first course consisted of oyster soup, sweet pickles, olives and celery. Sweet and Irish potatoes, turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce and corn comprised the main course.” 

“If the men weren’t stuffed to the gills by the end of the first two courses, they could help themselves to an assortment of goodies for dessert: nuts, dried fruit, peach and apple pies and three different kinds of cake (coconut, chocolate and walnut),” Bandel concluded. 

The late Dr. Edward S. Perzel, a history professor at UNC Charlotte, said that when the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, “the government needed places to train large numbers of troops quickly. It looked to the South because of its warm climate.” 

David Ovens of J. B. Ivey & Company, who was the president of Charlotte’s chamber of commerce in 1917, was a visionary. “A boot camp meant jobs, money and prestige,” wrote Herbert White of Our State magazine.

David Ovens

 

“Ovens and his compatriots developed a basic pitch to convince the federal government to pick Charlotte: It had the land, weather and infrastructure to accommodate a camp.” What gave Charlotte a logistical edge was a major rail line to transport soldiers and munitions to New York City for deployment. 

Charlotte was selected, as were two other North Carolina sites – near Fayetteville and Raleigh. 

Camp Greene was named after Gen. Nathanael Greene, a Revolutionary War hero. He is memorialized at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro; the city takes its name from Gen. Greene as well.

 

At its peak, more than 60,000 soldiers lived on base at Camp Greene, White said. “The men who deployed to France saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war before the armistice in November 1918. At the war’s end, Camp Greene was dismantled and closed officially in June 1919.” 

“Electricity, water and sewer services that once served the camp breathed new life into a rapidly expanding city. A boomtown, inspired and confident, was born,” White said.

Charlotte, N.C.