In 1918, William R. Ozburn Jr. registered for the draft for World War I. Below is a copy of his draft registration, dated September 12, 1918.
As we can see from the above document, William Jr. was 20 years old in 1918 and as yet unmarried. He lived with his parents in the house on West 38th Street. He was of medium height and build, had brown eyes and brown hair. And apparently, the night before he appeared for his registration, he had broken his arm in an auto accident. I wonder if there was a write-up in the newspaper about that?
We can also see from the registration that he worked as a ship fitter for the Foundation Company in Savannah. According to Wikipedia, a ship fitter might work for either the Navy or a civilian ship builder. If working for a ship builder, then he would be "a worker who 'fits' together the structural portions of a ship by either welding or by riveting." The shipbuilding company William Jr. worked for, the Foundation Company, had operations in four locations: Savannah, New Orleans, Tacoma and Portland, WA. Below is a brief description of the Company:
It's curious that the registration card didn't mention William Jr's previous service in the National Guard. Below is a copy of the WWI Service Card that tells a little bit about that period of service. Note that it says he was declared 25% disabled upon discharge. I wonder what that disability was from?
As we can see from the above document, William Jr. was 20 years old in 1918 and as yet unmarried. He lived with his parents in the house on West 38th Street. He was of medium height and build, had brown eyes and brown hair. And apparently, the night before he appeared for his registration, he had broken his arm in an auto accident. I wonder if there was a write-up in the newspaper about that?
We can also see from the registration that he worked as a ship fitter for the Foundation Company in Savannah. According to Wikipedia, a ship fitter might work for either the Navy or a civilian ship builder. If working for a ship builder, then he would be "a worker who 'fits' together the structural portions of a ship by either welding or by riveting." The shipbuilding company William Jr. worked for, the Foundation Company, had operations in four locations: Savannah, New Orleans, Tacoma and Portland, WA. Below is a brief description of the Company:
The Foundation Company was a construction company headed by Franklin Remington, who came from the Remington firearms company and who also started the Remington typewriter business. His war effort was focused on building wooden ships that could provide food for the French, but many were incomplete when the war ended and were scrapped in the 1920s. The Savannah shipyard was located just upstream of downtown Savannah, where the port's facilities are today. (from Ship Building History)One of the ships built by the Savannah Foundation Company that was sold to the French Navy was Jemmapes, a patrol trawler. Built in April 1919, it ended up as a Merchant Marine fishing trawler named Foam. In 1942 it was sunk after being shelled in the North Atlantic. William Jr. may have worked on that ship.
It's curious that the registration card didn't mention William Jr's previous service in the National Guard. Below is a copy of the WWI Service Card that tells a little bit about that period of service. Note that it says he was declared 25% disabled upon discharge. I wonder what that disability was from?
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