Welcome Home

Welcome Home. Scenes Such As Will Never Be Replaced. , The first transports of returning World War I servicemen arriving at the port in mid-February 1919. Under the sponsorship of the Welcome Home Committee, celebrations were organized whenever ships landed. The fire bells of the city were set to pealing, and bands greeted men at the docks and the marched with them. School children, release from their studies, lined the parade route and waved flags to promote additional fanfare.

Of all the days of welcome, one of the most memorable was May 20, 1919, the occasion of the return of Virginia's own "Blue and Gray" Twenty-ninth Infantry Division. Throngs of friends and relatives lined the avenues of the waterfront and to the Casino Park grounds beyond, watching to catch a glimpse of their men.

A similarly spectacular episode a few days later on May 25 marked the re-entry of Hampton's Battery D of the 111th Field Artillery. This grand occurrence was proclaimed "the biggest event ever pulled off in Newport News." As the transport Virginia sailed into the harbor, a flotilla of tugs, yachts and steamers greeted the vessel in jubilation. The band struck up a martial song.

The troops proceeded up 25th Street and under the arch to the cheers of thousands of spectators. School children lined the banks to form the message WELCOME. Along 25th Street were columns twinned with victory laurels; large American and state flags hung from lines suspended across the road and on the arch. Ahead of the division rode girls on truckloads of rose petals which they strewed before the marchers in a floral red carpet. On the corners outside the post office, the reviewing stand was filled with dignitaries including the governor.

The parade continued along Washington Avenue. Postcard of the event depicted multitudes gathered on the sidewalks with restraining policemen to hold the crowd at bay. The excitement of the scene was testified to by The Times-Herald: ,

The cry 'here comes Battery D' arose and the great crowd stood on its tiptoes. Then it was that half a hundred fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sweethearts and loved ones broke through the crowds and ran into the ranks to get one of the boys they had recognized. This happened a number of times as the columns kept coming into view. 'There he is!' one would should should involuntarily and then dart right through the lines, unmindful of guards unmindful of everything except that she had seen her boy and she was going to him.

, The article ended, "Tears were everywhere," and another remarked there were scenes "such as will never be repeated."