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Leo J. Bailey's life before war
Leo Joseph Bailey was born on November 28, 1894 in Leetonia, Pennsylvania, growing up with 8 siblings. He worked as a teacher when war got declared and 3 years later on June 1st, 1917 he entlisted in the United States Army. -
Leo J. Bailey's career
Bailey started his career in the army as Company M, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division. He trained at Ft. Slocum, New York and Syracuse, New York. Bailey trained as the 2nd Division in France in the fall of 1917. On his off days Bailey used the time to learn the french language and to get to know the culture and the people. In the spring of 1918 Bailey was developed in war. -
Leo J. Bailey arrives in France
Leo J. Bailey and his company were on sea for two weeks when they were heading their way to France. Many people got seasick including Bailey. During their time at sea they were keeping an eye out for German submarines. Later Bailey said they journal could have been shorter, but because of all the other ships that traveled with them it took so long. -
Bailey gets injured
In the early summer of 1918 Bailey gets wouded on his right arm in Belleau Wood, France by the enemy forces. He was injured after an atterial attack when a shell explosed and hit him as he jumped into a foxhole. Later in an interview he described the attack “Should I stand, or do I drop on the ground, or would I try to get into my foxhole”, Bailey. Bailey survived the incident but was hospitalized for two months -
Bailey's time in the hospital
Bailey spent the summer of 1918 in the Base Hospital 27 at Angers, France for 2 months to recover from his injury. Later in an interview he said sleeping in a bed for the first time in nearly a year, and awaking to clean linens and a good breakfast as "the ideal life of a soldier's dreams," even if his days were punctuated by the daily dressing of wounds. -
Bailey's second injury
In early fall of 1918, Bailey got released from the hospital and got notified that he would be recommended to return to the United States because he was still not completely recovered from his injury. Soon after his notification he got injured to his right arm again and so Bailey remained in France to recuperate. -
Prisoner of War Escort
Towards the end of 1918 Bailey got classified as fit enough and got transfered to the Prisoner of War Escort Company #85, Army Service Corps where he guarded German prisoners. During this time he wrote a lot of letters that he wished he was sent back home two months ago. -
Bailey's experience
Later Bailey said “There were a few old men and a couple of young kids, and we had no trouble, they were like we were, they wanted to go home too, glad to be alive.” Leo is also gathering thousands of vehicles that would be sold to the French government and in his free time he is
going to the YMCA and is celebrating a french holiday. -
Sergeant
On October 16th 1919 Leo gets promoted to sergeant in Prisoner War Escort. He was later honorably discharged the same day. Leo was awarded a Purple Heart for his injury sustained during action. -
Bailey finally goes home
After almost 3 years in France, Bailey finally goes back to the United States. In his last letter he writes about France and that he wished he could go back to Paris someday.“Once the war was over there wasn’t any hatred among us,” said Bailey about the German prisoners after the war and he also maintained correspondence with one of the three younger German prisoners. -
Bailey's life after war
After the war, Bailey returned to Pennsylvania to become a Agriculture teacher and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Agriculture from Pennsylvania State College. A few years later he moved to New York where he married his wife Margaret Loughery and had three daughters, Margaret, Bernice, and Catherine. -
Bailey's trips to France and his memoir
He returned to France twice, one time in 1927, and again in 1968. He said after the second trip “ We explored as much as possible all fields, places, and people that I had known 1917-1919 and all the battlefields of the Ninth and cemeteries in which former members of Company. He also wrote a memoir with the title "The War as I Saw It." Some parts of his memoir were used in the book "The Education of Private Bailey," in Laurence Stallings book The Doughboys. He died on June 12, 1988.