16. A Memorable World War I Parade
Many people could have used a bit of a pick me up towards the end of summer, 1918. By then, World War I had raged for four years, millions had been slain in the battlefields, and millions more had been injured. Many more around the world, even those far away from the front lines, suffered from the disruptions and hardships caused by history’s greatest war to date. The United States had joined the conflict by then, and Doughboy deaths and injuries had steadily increased from a trickle to a torrent. Against that grim backdrop, the authorities in Philadelphia decided that the city’s residents could do with a morale boost.
To raise the public’s spirits, and simultaneously support the troops by selling Liberty Loans – government-issued bonds that paid for the war – the City of Brotherly Love organized a huge parade. It was to feature Boy Scouts, women’s groups, soldiers, and numerous marching bands. All would be capped by a concert headlined by the “March King” himself, composer and conductor John Philip Sousa. There was a hiccup, however, that the authorities overlooked, or outright ignored: the Spanish Flu, the modern era’s deadliest pandemic.
