On this Memorial Day weekend 2022 I would like to salute family members who proudly served in the military whether that be during war, peacetime draft, or served as Reservist out of their sense of duty.

In my family research so far I have not uncovered any Daleiden relative serving in the military during any past wars or conflicts. I will need to do some more research.

We have several that served during peace time drafts. My father George Davis served in a U.S. Missile Battalion Unit in Germany in the late 1950s during the Cold War.

James Weberpal who’s served in Germany during the peace time draft. Jame’s mother was Rose Schlick the daughter or Joseph Schlick of Burlington in Kane County Illinois. James or “Jimmy” past away this spring. He was an excellent source of Schlick family history.

My uncle, Joseph Schlick served and gave his life during the Vietnam War. Here is is obituary from the Wheaton Illinois Daily Journal.

My daughter Caroline Davis is currently a Naval Reservist serving as a Master of Arms. She recently completed her deployment in Africa. I am very proud of her that she decided to take a portion of her life to provide service to our country! She has never been a selfish person and always thinking of ways to help people.

My Grandfather George Germaine Davis served in World War 1. George was born and lived in the City of Chicago his entire life. He worked for several railroads in the railyards near the Union Stock Yards on Chicago’s Southside. He was nicknamed “Boomer” Davis. In railroad slang a “Boomer” was a

. . . Drifter who went from one railroad job to another, staying but a short time on each job or each road. This term dates back to pioneer days when men followed boom camps. The opposite is home guard. Boomers should not be confused with tramps, although they occasionally became tramps. Boomers were railroad workers often in big demand because of their wide experience, sometimes blackballed because their tenure of stay was uncertain. Their common practice was to follow the “rushes”-that is, to apply for seasonal jobs when and where they were most needed, when the movement of strawberry crops, watermelons, grain, etc., was making the railroads temporarily short-handed. There are virtually no boomers in North America today. When men are needed for seasonal jobs they are called from the extra board. (Source: Freeman H. Hubbard. Railroad Avenue: Great Stories and Legends of American Railroading. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1945).

George was primarily known as a “humper“. In railroad slang a “hump” was a small rise used to assist in coupling train cars in a yard. A humper was someone who assisted box cars to be connected to one annother through the use of a hump. It was very dangerous work.

Later in life due to various health issues he worked as a Cabby for the Chicago Yellow Cab Co. George and his life partner Florence Brose Adelsperger raised two children: George S. (my father) and Suzanne Davis. Grandmother Adelsperger had one child with her husband Robert Adelsperger. His name was Dr. Robert Adelsperger, Jr., my father’s half-brother. Robert or “Bob” became a rare book librarian and started the Special Collections Department for the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

“Doughboy” Private 1st Class George G. Davis was part of the First Infantry of the Illinois National Guard reorganized as part of the 33rd Division 131st U.S. Infantry Regiment Company H. He served from the time of his draft 14 August 1917 to 15 June 1919. In an oral history interview with my father George S. Davis I was informed that Grandpa Davis’ main charge and title was that of a Teamster during the war “driving” the artillary cassion wagons pulled by horses to the frontlines.