A train travels through the heartland of World War I America, carrying troops bound for the distant battlefields of Europe. Death follows with it. Not death in the trenches, though some would go that way. But there was a much more immediate death clinging to those closely crowded cards, and it was not limited to Soldiers. On every sizable town along the way the Soldiers were greeted, applauded, and feted by the people. They were given gifts, hugs, even kisses from the town girls.
By the end of the journey several of the Soldiers were already dead and most were sick. At every town along the way, a deadly illness broke out, spreading like cancer through the body of America. The deadliest pandemic in modern times, the Spanish Flu, was unleashed.
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For more, listen to the Podcast episode and check out my book, History Stories for Everyone, where I dive deeper into this and some of history’s other most fascinating and relatable human stories:
