Al Wesch (left) was one of 25,000 soldiers stationed at Camp Dix in 1918.
While serving his country during World War I, my grandfather was deployed to Manhattan from nearby Camp Dix, New Jersey, to aid in removing the bodies of Spanish flu victims from the city's hospitals.
Unbeknown to his commander, Major General Hugh Scott, the men of Camp Dix were spreading the deadly disease to New Yorkers.
Between 1918 and 1919, the Spanish flu killed 675,000 Americans.
Soldiers like my grandfather were the first to come down with the disease, and the chief carriers of the Spanish flu nationwide.
Soldiers at Camp Dix gargle with salt water to prevent Spanish flu, September 1918. Find more photos here.
Soldiers like my grandfather were the first to come down with the disease, and the chief carriers of the Spanish flu nationwide.
