In view of his poor health, George Sauter's doctors had probably advised him to avoid drafts, but this summer he got caught in the big one: the local draft board notified him to report for examination on July 28. While awaiting that fateful date, George "received his first experience of how it feels to be under fire." It happened around 1 a.m. on July 8. George was returning to Valparaiso after a visit to Hobart, driving his car along the lonely road near Wheeler. A loud bang made him think one of his tires had blown; he was slowing the car to a stop when a second report — clearly a gunshot this time — sent his foot to the accelerator. He escaped without injury. No one ever found out who was doing the shooting or whether he or she was actually aiming at George.
And whatever his health problems may have been, evidently the draft board was willing to overlook them. By mid-August George had resigned his position at the Specht-Finney store in Valpo and was once again attempting to take a vacation before his departure for training camp.
Earlier we read John Boldt's letter home from France, dated February 24. He was still there in August, and the Gazette commented: "John Boldt who went to France with the first American soldiers to land overseas is a 'first gunner' in the American artillery and we would infer that he is in a prominent part of the sector where the fighting is good."
Around the same time, the Gazette reported that all three of August and Dora Maybaum's sons were in the army. Their middle son, 24-year-old Harold, had just arrived overseas from Camp Custer in Michigan. Their oldest son, Louis (27), had set out for Camp Custer on August 6 — one day after their baby, 19-year-old Clarence, had left for a training camp in Missouri. (Clarence was a volunteer; I don't know about the others.)
Those three boys were all the children August and Dora had. I expect the older Maybaums were both proud and scared.
By the end of the week, however, they had a little less reason to be either: Clarence was back home. Though he had passed the initial draft board physical examination, a more rigorous one at training camp had rejected him due to his "ear trouble."
Sources:
♦ "Draft Extension Bill Introduced in Congress Monday." Hobart News 8 Aug. 1918.
♦ "George Sauter Under Fire Before He Goes to War." Hobart News 11 July 1918.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 15 Aug. 1918.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 2 Aug. 1918; 9 Aug. 1918; 16 Aug. 1918.
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