My Grandfather, Nathaniel "Nat" Rouse, did not like to talk about the war. The existence of this diary (and war-time letters) was not known until a quarter century after he died.

This website is hosted by Nat's second son, Warren, and designed by his eldest grandson, me, Nathan. My sister Robin transcribed the first draft.

This site is a work in progress... There are still segments, marked [?], that i am trying to decipher. I am also striving to identify the towns and villages where my Grandfather was located. (Any information about the movements of F Company, 2nd Battalion, 165th will be appreciated.) In most cases, the original spelling has been preserved. I did, however, add punctuation to make it easier to read. I added bold emphasis to entries of interest to myself. UPPER-case words are preserved from the original diary. (I notice that the word "BATH" is usually upper-case.)

My Grandfather wrote in a small (shirt pocket sized) leather bound diary. His entries were brief, with little detail. When i started this project, i knew very little about America in WWI. For the sake of my own understanding and to provide context, the current version of the diary is filled with historical notations, links, and my comments. The historical notations are really just my notes, taken while browsing the internet. This represents my level of understanding, i do not pretend any expertise in the subject - there may be inaccuracies. (I would like to be accurate and i invite feedback.)

There are instances in the diary where Nat indicates he has recorded more detailed accounts of his experiences. Some of these entries have been included here as "*note*", others have not been found.

At times in the diary, my grandfather's dating of events seems to fall a day out of synch with other WWI documentation. Here are possible explanations: Sometimes a long entry runs beyond the space provided and into the next date. This would be MY transcription error. Or, it's easy to imagine someone loosing track of time in the midst of the hell of war.

Many thanks to those who have offered encouragement and helpful information. Thanks especially to Historian and author, Stephen L. Harris. (Watch for his soon to be published book on the Fighting 69th.), to Clark Jarrett (Check out the video documentary Clark produced about his Grandfather's experiences in WWI.), to Joe Hourigan (see Joe's website for a wealth of information about the Fighting 69th), and to the very nice folks at RDV-Millennium. Merci to Jean-Marie Pierre, a native of Bourmont, France, who has edited for place names, and who is a valuable historical reference of the AEF in WWI, especially in the Vosges and Haute Marne départements and more particularly on the Bazoilles Hospital Center.

Some of the photos are not credited for source -- this is due to my poor record keeping. I asked for, and received permission to use some of the photos. I haven't yet asked for permission to use other photos, and i lost track of which is which. Both in the diary and on the links page, I have placed links to web pages that i found informative and interesting.