Ralph Everette Billings was Hattie and Elbridge's 4th child and second son. Here is a picture of 12 of their 13 children.
On June 1, 1917 when Ralph registered for the WWI draft he is listed as being 26 years old and the Superintendent of Schools at Hurley, Turner County, South Dakota. The following is from Hattie's diary.
Ralph Everette Billings, enlisted and went to Fort Snelling, Minnesota August 27, 1917 was there six weeks then went to Fortress Monroe, Virginia where on November 27 he received a commission to 2nd Lieut of Coast Artillery.
Here is a picture of Ralph is his uniform.
The Coast Artillery was the branch of the military that trained men to operate the big guns used during WWI. While Ralph spent time during the war at the Front, in letters he sent to Hattie on June 18 and 24th, 1918, He was busy teaching how to take the cannon apart and clean it and put it together again. This is a picture of the one of the "Howitizers" that were used in WWI and may have been like the one's Ralph trained on.
Then Ralph told his mother that he was also ordered to Angers France to start training center No. 4 on Aug 7, 1918. Another picture of a big gun used during WWI.
Hattie stated in her entry that she was glad Ralph was an instructor. I am sure as a mother she was glad he was not at the Front. I am also sure that on Jan 4, 1919 when she says she received a telegram that Ralph had landed in New York and was going to Camp Mills, sent by the Salvation Army, she was relieved that her son had lived through the horrors of WWI when so many had not.
I found this song and picture of a family during this time period writing to their son far away just as Hattie did.
If you follow this link you can actually hear an old recording of this song that was written and recorded in 1918. http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder5743
