He enlisted September 5, 1915 and was received September 7, 1915 at Calexico, California and assigned to Troop “B” 1st Cavalry, September 9, 1915. During March , 1919, he was transferred to Camp Harry J. Jones, Douglas, Arizona, where several troops were combined to form the 17th Cavalry. He was in Troop C and on April 5 1919, the 17th Cavalry set sail from San Francisco on the U.S.A.T. Sherman, bound for Honolulu and Schofield Barracks.
He contracted pneumonia during the crossing and was in the hospital at Schofield Barracks. This is the fact that raised the question of barbers being part of the Medical Department as his records show his being in the Medical Department. Other military records do not state if his duties were general cavalry duties or if in fact he was a barber/medic during his entire military stay. I remember his talking about treating people and that he had considerable medical knowledge.
As a passenger cargo vessel fitted to carry livestock, Sherman made an excellent transport and she could accommodate 80 officers, 1,000 men and 1,000 horses. She also had refrigerated capacity for shipping 1,000 pounds of meat.
Schofield Barracks appears to have been very primitive quarters for the Cavalry. I remember Daddy talking about Poi and the feasts the Hawaiians would give with pigs roasted in pits in the ground.
Demobilization following the end of World War I, left the 17th Cavalry manning the garrison at Fort Shafter and Schofield Barracks until the fall of 1920. There was still the problem of covering approximately one hundred miles of rugged coast line with one regiment of cavalry to effectively repel any attempted landing of enemy troops from transports and hold them off until the arrival of reinforcements. With the exception of the sector in and around the city of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, the entire coast line of the island was left to the 17th Cavalry Regiment. The Regiment developed an intricate system of shielded lights and telephone lines for command and control as well as reporting, with camps placed in locations that provided excellent cover and concealment from the air or sea.
December 1920, the 17 Cavalry returned to the United States aboard the USAT Buford, which was built at Belfast, Ireland, in 1890 as the commercial steamship, Mississippi. The Army acquired her in 1898, at the time of the Spanish-American War. In January 1919 the ship was turned over to the Navy, placed in commission as USS Buford and assigned to duty as a troop transport. During the next half-year she made four round-trip voyages between the United States and France, bringing home over 4700 First World War I veterans.
Daddy returned home aboard the USAT Buford and was discharged at The Presidio of Monterey, California, on December 5, 1920.
The 17th Cavalry is a historical organization within the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry after the Pancho Villa Expedition. The unit was constituted on 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as the 17th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas and originally inactivated 26 September 1921 at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Formerly a part of the 1950s Combat Arms Regimental System, it was reorganized as a part of the United States Army Regimental System, an ongoing effort to maintain the lineage and history of the Army through its units. Today, the 17th Cavalry Regiment is found across the Army within the Combat Aviation Brigades, where the Squadrons, now constituted as attack/recon helicopter squadrons, carry on the legacy of the 17th Cavalry Regiment.
James George Gilbert was proud to have served his country and told us many stories of that time. He died of complications from a broken hip January 16, 1971, just three months shy of his 80th year. I still miss him.
I'am proud of my heritage and my family's participation in historical events of this country.
