Ochsner, William Oscar

[DavOchsner01.FTW]

Prior to the entry of the United States into the war, Canada ha d established army-recruiting centers in the Great Lakes area. M y brother William, only fifteen years old at the time, and fire d up with enthusiasm for the war, enlisted in the Canadian Army . He was stopped before he managed to leave the city and my pare nts managed to have his enlistment cancelled. Later, after he tu rned sixteen, William managed to enlist in the U.S. Army by stat ing his age as eighteen and his birthplace as elsewhere than Cle veland. A few days after he had disappeared from home, we receiv ed a letter from him mailed from Columbus, Ohio. He said he ha d enlisted again and they should not get him out as he would re- enlist and not let them know his whereabouts. He was assigned t o a light artillery battalion in the 90th Division, mostly staff ed by westerners from Texas and Oklahoma. He served in France t o the end of the war and after the Armistice remained with the A rmy of Occupation on the Rhine River in Germany. Several years l ater, William rejoined the army, this time going to Panama, th e Philippine Islands and finally to Tientsin, China. We did no t see him for fours years, the last year of which he was on hi s own, playing piano for a living.