Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken: First in a Series
There's a small monument on the other side of this mile-square town, at the foot of Pier A — now a park, but for centuries one of the busiest piers on the New York Harbor waterfront. In 1917, Pier A was the port of embarkation for the American "doughboys" who joined the fray in the final year of World War I. Among those was one George Washington Dagley, our grandfather. He was one of 237,135 U.S. soldiers wounded "over there" (as the song goes), which won him the best of the three choices mentioned in General John Pershing's classic line, "Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken." After recovering from his wounds in New Jersey, he went home to the hills of Tennessee. 48,909 other American soldiers weren't so lucky; they got one of the other two choices and never saw Hoboken again.
This picture, one of several on that monument, illustrates a scene common in those days as well as these, illustrating as well one of John Prine's best lines: "And all the news just repeats itself, like some forgotten dream, that we've both seen."
There's also a newer monument nearby, to our city's 53 victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Hoboken lost a higher percentage of its citizens in those attacks than any other city, a distinction we'd rather not have, but the least we can do is remember our lost neighbors.
The Hoboken Historical Museum will sell you a Heaven, Hell or Hoboken T-shirt for $15 plus shipping and handling. So far, they're not selling any 9/11 commemorative shirts, which is just as well.
And speaking of T-shirts, the mall security guard who called the police on a customer wearing a "Peace on Earth" shirt he bought in the mall, and who insisted that the man be arrested and charged with trespassing, has been fired. The guard, Robert Williams, insists he was only doing what management had told him to do.
I wonder what the policy is regarding "Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken" shirts ...
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @12:55 PM
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