Floyd West was a medical tech at Camp Devens, 45 miles outside of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. when the flu broke out. His responsibilities included caring for the hundreds of soldiers ill with the flu. He must have seen terrible things.
His grandson, Bill West, wrote ““Some soldiers in World War I saw hell on a battlefield. Others, such as my grandfather, saw another sort of hell in hospital wards full of comrades racked with the Spanish Influenza.”
To read more about Floyd and his experience during the flu epidemic, see Bill’s blog post.
–Story and photo contributed by Bill West
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Welcome to Bridging the Past. We help genealogists connect to their colonial New England ancestors by sharing with them information about the lives of their ancestors. What did they eat? What did they wear? What was a typical day like? Did my ancestor fight in a war? What was life like for that ancestor, and for the loved ones he left at home? Why did they move? Was it part of a larger movement? By answering these questions, and many more, you can bring your ancestors to life and feel closer to them.
We design lectures to answer these questions and give genealogists the tools and resources to personally connect with their ancestors by fleshing out the lives of their ancestors so they are more than names, dates and places on a piece of paper.
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1918 Flu Epidemic Stories 
My grandfather went awol and came home when he was diagnosed with the flu. He survived, thank God!
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I’d love to include this story if you have a few more details
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