Some of you may find the diary entries that our own Royal Day made during the 1918 Spanish Influenza interesting. At the age of 17 (going on 18) Royal Day had made a contract with himself at the beginning of 1918 to write a diary with the aim “to amuse myself on reading it several decades hence”. The October and November diary entries mention the Spanish flu pandemic and you can read his experience here.
WW-I had just ended and tens of thousands of servicemen were returning home from the war. It was a big year for Royal with his graduation from Pasadena High School, starting at USC, and a newly enlisted member of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC).
Just a note about Royal’s writing style. He was just 18, a typical teenager of the times, and he likes to use initials for his girl friends and often drops in French phrases. The transcription and annotation of his diary was made possible by Royal’s sons Bob and Rich Day. The full diary is available in the books section.
