Just a number typed on a piece of paper and the list probably went into the thousands. Numbers heading off to England and each number representing a soldier. Number 48 on this list you will find my uncle, Ernest Julius Alfred Erickson. The sheet of paper is from the "Headquarters Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey," and it is Ernest Julius's embarkation status. He and his Company C would be transported on-board the Steamer Karoa out of the Brooklyn (NYC) Port to England. Ernest Julius would port at Liverpool some ten days later.

The "Notify in Case of Emergency" lists Ernest's father, my great grandfather Anders Alfred Erickson of Wilton, North Dakota.

Ernest Julius was serving with the (AEF) American Expeditionary Force in the 361st Infantry, Company C. He started his military training at Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington. Ernest's Division shipped out to France after a stay at Camp Mills in New York, which was the debarkation center on July 6th, 1918 where Ernest would serve on the Western Front.

Before he joined the American Expeditionary Force in late Spring of 1917 in Tacoma, Ernest lived and worked in Tacoma, Baker, White Pine and La Grande, Oregon.

Previous to their service, Ernest and his younger brother Frank were experienced hunters and outdoorsman and worked as railroad deputies out of La Grande, Oregon. Their younger brother Anders Sebran Filimon Erickson served with the 101st Aero Squadron in the Air Corps in France from 1918-1919.