Jump to content

A timely message from a century ago


jmar
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello all!

 

I hope this post finds you all well.  I posted this letter on my FB page a while ago, and realized it might be of interest here. I paraphrase from that FB post; A letter, from a Army Nurse is very poignant with our present pandemic. The date is firmly entrenched during the post WW I Spanish Flu. A voice from 102 years ago tells her innocent story of a horror still unfolding.

I had this in my collection well before the current situation, it really gave me a chill when I recently re-read it.

 

Be safe and well,

 

Joe

 

01003_LO.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe,

 

Amazing letter! Thank you so much for posting this story. It is definitely very poignant for these times we are now living.

 

...Kat

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Rooster

Was a touching read of a life long gone. Poignant yes but different in that WW1 was occurring along with the pandemic....

... This pandemic has not killed near as many as the one in 1918.... So far... Fortunately.

A world War and a pandemic all at once !!! Must have been a very tough time.

 

History of 1918 Flu Pandemic

 

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919.  In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918.

It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.

While the 1918 H1N1 virus has been synthesized and evaluated, the properties that made it so devastating are not well understood. With no vaccine to protect against influenza infection and no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections that can be associated with influenza infections, control efforts worldwide were limited to non-pharmaceutical interventions such as isolation, quarantine, good personal hygiene, use of disinfectants, and limitations of public gatherings, which were applied unevenly.

 

And when you figure in that the population of the USA back then was much smaller than it is now, that 675000 was a very large number to loose.

As compared to the population of the USA now and the current death toll.

Must have been terrible dealing with all of that at the same time!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Rooster

'They were dying that fast'

By DENISE M. BARAN–UNLANDEmailFollow

Oct. 29, 2019

Unknown Joliet victims of 1918 influenza pandemic to be memorialized

Jack Gorski said Holy Cross Cemetery has hundreds of unmarked graves.

Gorski, a longtime member of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Joliet, said many people have visited the cemetery over the years, never knowing these graves existed.

The deceased are Joliet-area victims of the 1918 to 1919 influenza pandemic, Gorski said. It's these people that Holy Cross, in conjunction with St. Mary Nativity Catholic Church, will commemorate with a brief service and memorial plaque on Saturday at the cemetery.

Nov. 2, in the Catholic and other Christian denominations, is known as All Souls Day, a day to commemorate those who had died. Rev. Jerome Kish, pastor of Holy Cross and St. Mary Nativity, will lead the dedication.

"When I was just a kid, my mom told me about this," Gorski said. "She said during the 1918 pandemic, people were dying so fast, they wouldn't even take them into the church.

"They would go right to the cemetery because they were dying so fast. Because right behind the first funeral, there would be a second funeral coming. They were dying that fast."

(Above, Jack Gorski and Laurie Pottorff lead students from St. Mary Nativity in prayer during a cemetery walk0.

According to the Centers for Disease Control website, 1918 to 1919 influenza pandemic, which was caused by an H1Ni virus, was the most severe pandemic in recent history, spreading worldwide.

Gorski isn't certain when the virus hit Joliet, but the CDC website said the virus was in the U.S. by spring 1918 when it was identified in military personnel.

The CDC estimates about 500 million people became infected with the virus and at least 50 million worldwide (675,000 in the U.S.) as a result.

Gorski said planning for this event started several years ago when Holy Cross and St. Mary Nativity, which share a pastor, began taking cemetery walks on the church's respective feast days – Sept. 8 (the birthday of Jesus' mother) and Sept. 15 (the exultation of the cross).

Gorski said a talk about the unmarked graves was part of the cemetery walk one year, which led him and Pottorff to discuss how to honor the people buried there.

Although Gorski did some research through the Archdiocese of Chicago – the Diocese of Joliet was not established until 1948, Gorski said – he was unable to learn the names of those in the unmarked graves, he said.

For a video message about why the community should attend, visit theherald-news.com/video.

"The kids from St. Mary Nativity would get involved because they [the two churches] are sister parishes," Lauri Pottorff, a member of St. Mary Nativity, who collaborated with Gorski on the memorial. "They would actually say the rosary."

Praying at Holy Cross cemetery is St. Mary Nativity student Izabela Vrinceanu.

KNOW MORE

Here are more facts about the 1918 influenza pandemic, according to the CDC:

• Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, ages 20 to 40 years old and age 65 years and older.

• A unique feature was the "high mortality in healthy people," especially those ages 20 to 40.

• Why the 1918 H1N1 virus was so devastating is not understood, despite the fact researchers have evaluated and synthesized the virus.

• Efforts to control the virus were limited to isolation, quarantine, good personal hygiene, use of disinfectants, and limitations of public gatherings. That's because the flu vaccine had not yet been invented to protect people from the virus. Antibiotics, which may be used to treat secondary infections, were also not yet invented,

• In 2005, CDC researchers and their colleagues reconstructed the influenza virus that caused the 1918 to 1819 pandemic.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Memorial Dedication

WHEN: 10 a.m. Nov. 2

WHERE: Holy Cross Cemetery, Theodore Street, Crest Hill

ETC: Those buried over 100 years ago during the 1918 influenza pandemic will be immortalized with a plaque.

AboutContactSubscribe

Privacy Policy

About Our AdsPlace a Classified AdCareers

Copyright © 2020 The Herald-News. All rights reserved. Published in Joliet, Illinois, USA, by Shaw Media.

More

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/16/2020 at 8:31 PM, jeb137 said:

It was a good read.  Thanks for posting it.

 

Jon B

Newaygo MI

Thank you for stopping in Jon. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it.

Best wishes!

Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/16/2020 at 9:24 PM, cutiger83 said:

Joe,

 

Amazing letter! Thank you so much for posting this story. It is definitely very poignant for these times we are now living.

 

...Kat

Hi Kat!

I hope you and yours are all doing well! Always good to see you drop in! I found her words a fascinating glimpse into the past. Fortunately for us we have not barely approached the extent of the Spanish Flu pandemic. We have the edge of a society with mass communication, which perhaps helped stemmed the tide. We're not out of the woods yet, but if we all try to exercise safe practices, and some self control, we'll get through it with only a fraction of those who died in Nurse WIng's day.

 

My best to you always!

 

Joe

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...