Cheyenne County Man Drafted to WWI, Misses Action and Spanish Flu

In the early part of the 20th century, John Lingwall was a young man more concerned with the horses and cattle on the family farm than global politics.

That all changed when he received his draft notice and quickly became one of the many Nebraskans called into military service supporting World War I.

He was sent to Camp Funston in Kansas. Camp Funston was a U.S. Army training camp on Fort Riley southwest of Manhattan, Kan. The camp was named for Brigadier Gen. Frederick Funston who died in 1917. Camp Funston was one of 16 training camps established at the outbreak of World War I. Construction of the facility began in the summer of 1917 and included 1,400 buildings on 2,000 acres when completed, according to militarywikia.com. The site estimates about 50,000 recruits were trained at the camp.

In 1918, Camp Funston also recorded the first cases of what would be known as the Spanish Flu. The Spanish Flu would grow to have worldwide impact.

National Geographic reports that the first official cases of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic were at Camp Funston.

Lingwall did not contract the flu virus. He was one of the lucky ones. One might say he was lucky a second time a short time later.

Lingwall was sent to Camp Funston to be part of the cavalry, a perfect fit for a rancher. He raised riding and work horses. As a western Nebraska farmer and rancher he was the bread-winner of the house. Consequently, he petitioned for an exemption from the draft so he could take care of his mother. The exemption was denied and he hired a local man to run the ranch.

"They also had a neighbor (Ed Root) who came over and took care of it," said Dana Revell, granddaughter of Lingwall.

His luck returned when he received his overseas assignment... just as the war was ending. He never saw military conflict or left the states.

He did come back with memories that made him long for his home near Sidney.

"One of the things he talked about was eating mutton, and he was a cattleman," Revell said.

The taste of mutton doesn't compare to a grilled sirloin for this Nebraska rancher.

His time at Camp Funston and pending overseas assignment put his personal goals on hold. Revell said he asked her grandmother to marry him, but the family wouldn't allow it until he returned from the Army. She said they didn't want her to be an Army bride, or widow. In exchange, his sister accompanied his fiancée on train rides to visit him at Camp Funston. It was still the time in society when women rarely traveled alone.

He was discharged from the Army in 1919. He returned to his ranch southwest of Sidney and married Minnie Sprenger.

"He stayed on that property, his parents' homestead, until his health wouldn't allow it. Then mom (Evelyn Gerih) took care of him," Revell said.

His sister, Anne Lingwall, married into the Peetz family who the town of Peetz is named after.