FAR HEEL HISTORY
By James E. Wood
Fighting The Flu
On Campus
The influenza oulbreak of 1918-1919 that killed millions of
people worldwide took a heavy toll on young Army trainees at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
It was the fall of 1918. and
just off the quarantined
University of North Caro-
linacampusinChapel Hill, a boy
was playing a guitar and singing
in the night:
Influenza is a disease.
Makesyou weak, can 'I be eased.
Kills the rich and the po\
Oh, Lord, gonna kill a whole
lot mo'
Iffen ’you don t turn away from
у
o' sins.
Influenza was raging through¬
out the student body, which con¬
sisted mainly of the Student
Army TrainingCorps. the SATC.
After the
18-Ю-45
draft act was
passed by Congress, boys from
all across the state flocked to
Chapel Hill to enlist and gain a
chance to go to an officer's train¬
ing camp before being sent over¬
seas.
“Spanish” influenza, as it was
called, had struck with terrifyingswifl-
ness. It spread fever, headaches,
muscular pains, sore throatsand bron¬
chitis— often leading to fatal pneumo¬
nia — all over the campus. There was
little that could be done to stop it. It
was spread by direct contact and
through the air in droplets and dust.
Rumors of the devastating toll the
flu had already taken at North Caro¬
lina’s Camp Jackson and South Caro¬
lina’s Camp Sevier had us all scared to
death. Soldiers were said to be dying
faster than they could obtain coffins
for their bodies.
UNC President Edward Kidder Graham
was among those who died of the flu.
Soon we were dying, too. Even the
president of the university died, the
beloved Edward Kidder Graham. His
death was followed shortly by that of
hissuccessor.“BuirStacy,formerdean
of students.
1 1 was awful . We had no hospital . The
infirmary was filled with sick and
dying boys. Mothers came to Chapel
Hill to nurse their sons, and they died,
too.
Despite the toll taken in its ranks,
the SATC marched on. attending
classes and drilling. Reveille got us up
at dawn, and after eating breakfast at
Swain Hall, we marched down to
Emerson Field for calisthenics
and drill.
We attended classes in the
middle of the day, mainly study¬
ing war issues, and then went
back to Emerson Field for more
drills. That is what did us in. It
was hot. and the air was full of
dust. Marching back to Swain
Hall for supper, we could barely
secthcscttingsun for the dust we
were kicking up.
As the three companies stood at
attention in front of Swain Hall
while the bugler played taps, ev¬
ery now and then we would hear
the thud of fainting comrades as
they hit the ground, sudden vic¬
tims of the flu.
Right in the midst of all this, I
and a Private Jessups were as¬
signed to infirmary duty. Our job
was to go into the laundry room
and make a list of the dirty linen.
"Aren’t you going to give us
An Epidemic More Devastating Than War
Four times moreAmericansdiedofthe flu in 1918-1919 than the country
lost in World War I.
About 450,000 Americans and an estimated 15 million people worldwide
died from the influenza outbreak. The total death toll for U.S. troops in the
war was 116,516.
In North Carolina, 13,644 deaths were attributed to the flu between the
fall of 1918 and the spring of 1919.
By contrast. 629 North Carolinians were killed in action in the war, 204
died of wounds, and 1,542 died of disease in the service, according to Sarah
McCulloh Lemmon’s North Carolina’s Role in the First World War.
Photo N C Ih viium ol Arrtilvt-* A lli.lo*y
I hc Stolc/April *90
20
