Corona Virus Today; Adin Baker’s 1918 Battle with the Spanish Flu

In these uncertain days as we wait to see just how the Corona virus progresses, it seems like a good time to revisit again the story of Adin Baker (my great uncle) and the Spanish Flu that almost took his life.

Adin Baker, World War One and the Spanish Influenza, By Aunt CB and Pat Kinsella Herdeg 

From August, 2009, http://taylorbakercousins.blogspot.com/2009/06/adin-baker-world-war-one-and-spanish.html

Adin Leonard Baker wanted to travel ‘round the world as he was growing up in central New York State; finally, his travel bug still strongly in place, and no doubt, patriotic to boot, Adin joined the Army in June of 1918, at 29 years of age. Attached to the 152nd Division Medical Allentown Replacement Unit One, he was sent to England.

In October, just as his squad was ordered over to France (from London), Adin became sick and was ordered to escort another very ill veteran back to New York City; in the city, surrounded by beds of other sick soldiers, doctors realized that Adin was in the far advanced throes of Spanish influenza, a very lethal strain.

The influenza pandemic--"Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe"— actually didn't originate in Spain - it got its name because at the time, Spain wasn't involved in the war and had not imposed wartime censorship, thus it received great press attention there.

The Spanish Flu killed more people than World War I itself-- somewhere between 20 and 40 million people, according to Molly Billings of Stanford University. 

Billings continues: ‘In the fall of 1918 the Great War in Europe was winding down and peace was on the horizon. The Americans had joined in the fight, bringing the Allies closer to victory against the Germans. Deep within the trenches these men lived through some of the most brutal conditions of life, which it seemed could not be any worse. Then, in pockets across the globe, something erupted that seemed as benign as the common cold. The influenza of that season, however, was far more than a cold. In the two years that this scourge ravaged the earth, a fifth of the world's population was infected. 

It infected 28% of all Americans. An estimated 675,000 Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, ten times as many as in the world war.

1918 would go down as unforgettable year of suffering and death and yet of peace.’

Spanish Flu victims, hopefully recovering

Closer to home, the Spanish flu entered Syracuse at the State Fairgrounds, or Camp Syracuse, where hundreds of World War I soldiers were returning from Europe. When the worst was over, more than 900 people in Syracuse died of infection and pneumonia. In a federal survey of how many deaths per capita, Syracuse was in the top five, tied for third with Boston.

In Buffalo, the toll of the epidemic topped 2,000. Albany's death toll was over 500. In Rochester, 213 people died from the flu in one week.

Back in Center Lisle, Kate and Byron received a telegram from J. Nelson Borland, Field Director of the American Red Cross: “It is our sorrowful duty to inform you that your son, Adin Baker, who returned from overseas October 19, is critically ill at this hospital”.  Byron hot footed it down to New York City, but by the time he arrived, Kate had already been told that Adin had “turned the corner”: “It is very good news I have for you tonight. Your son’s temperature has been normal all day and the Doctor said he had passed the critical part of his illness although he is still very sick.”

Later, volunteers continued to write notes to his parents of Adin’s progress. He was discharged in January of 1919.

Having gotten a taste of travel (and perhaps because of his near death experience), Adin now took to traveling the country by rail, ‘hobo-ing around’. Center Lisle, New York, and the farm would have to wait.

One hundred and two years later, let’s hope that the Corona virus is not being talked about one hundred years hence!