PHOTO SHOWS THE 1919 CHAMPION BASKETBALL TEAM. SOLDIERS FROM THE 357th INFANTRY/90th DIVISION ARMY LEAGUE IN FRANCE —RIGHT ON THE BORDER WITH NAZI GERMANY
WRITTEN ON THE BASKETBALL ARE THE CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIFICS.
ON THE REVERSE OF THE PICTURE, GRANDPA HAS IDENTIFIED ALL TEAM MEMBERS, INCLUDING HIMSELF (One of just 2 privates!) AND COACH AND CHAPLAIN! Grampa is Raymond Carl Melby.
YOU CAN SEE ITS FAR FROM PERFECT. NOTICE A HORIZONTAL PIECE MISSING JUST OFF CENTER AND THE TORN AREA AROUND IT. ALSO THE MISSING CORNER AND FOLDED CORNER.
“P. Leinert, Trier” ?
(TRIER WAS A TOWN NEAR THE WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE THAT THE ALLIED FORCES CONTROLLED DURING THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR)
THE “T O” EMBLEM ON THEIR JERSEYS REPRESENT THE FACT THEY WERE MOSTLY FROM TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA, OR AT LEAST TRAINED AND SHIPPED OUT FROM THERE. GRAMPA WAS FROM IOWA. TRANSFERRED SOUTH FROM FORT DODGE TO JOIN THE “TEE-OH”S OR THE “TOUGH OMBRÉS”. THEY WERE INFANTRY. THESE GUYS MARCHED AND FOUGHT ALL OVER EUROPE, MOST FAMOUSLY AT ST MIHIEL AND MEUSE-ARGONNEnchin