IN SIBERIA: November 2009

11.08.2009

General Semenov

The railroad has a tunnel two mile long on the top of this mountain range and is guarded by Chinese soldiers who have a cement fort built on both sides of the tunnel. On the other side we had to wait for an armored train. This time it was one of General Semenov's trains. He believes in traveling in style as he has a girl for everyone of his officers, and, at any of the towns he stops, if he sees a good looking girl, why, he just takes them with him until he gets tired of them and then he gets some more. In one car he had all girls in it. We could see them through the windows. If any of the families resist in taking a girl, why, he just takes them out and kills them.

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The image above comes from George Voegeli's personal collection. Semenov is marked with an "x". More on General Semenov and the Cossacks later.

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Notes

February 20th 2013 -

Ahhh wow. It's February 2013. So, it's been 3 years since I've posted anything. It's as good time as any to get started again right?

*On Facebook - In Siberia

*Please see below on the right side for general info about the blog. Posts are to the left.

*This is a blog based on a journal. Posts are in reverse chronological order. Here is a link to the first entry.

*All of George's actual journal entries are in Courier font in order to more easily distinguish between my words and the journal.

About

This blog is based on the words of George C. Voegeli, my great grandfather. I will be posting portions of his journals, including the entirety of a consolidated journal he put together based on his hand written journals and his memory. I will also supplement the journals with historical background and information. Unless otherwise noted the entries come straight from George's consolidated journal. I will incoporate supplemental material from his other, hand written journals. When I do so I will identify the source of the post. Also, any posts that deal specifically with historical events, places or people will be clearly marked and sources cited. There will also be, from time to time, original drawings from Matt Boyle.

Historical Information

George Voegeli was part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Siberia from 1918-1920. Approximately 8,000 men were part of this force which inlcuded the Amry's 27th and 31st regiments. The AEF was sent to Siberia and Northern Russia in an attempt to maintain order after the Russian Civil War (Revolution) and to protect key military interests originally sent by the U.S. to support the previous Russian government's efforts in the Eastern front of WWI from the various local competing groups. The groups included the Cossacks, Bolsheviks, and Japanese. The AEF was also sent to rescue the Czech Legions who had been fighting against the Austrio-Hungarian forces. [wikipedia for more info] The political history of this area and time are incredibly complex and I am learning there implications more or less on the fly.

On Historical Accuracy

On Editing

The content of the original consolidated journal is entirely intact. Some spelling errors have been fixed. Also, the occasional run on sentence has been changed to multiple sentences when necessary. Paragraph breaks and George's titles are also intact. The title of certain blog posts will not necessarily be his titles, but some will. While he did utilize titles and headings sometimes the length of certain of his entries will necessitate multiple blog posts here and therefore I will choose titles for these blog posts when needed.

Also, not all of the journal entries or events mentioned are dated. Therefore, many entries will not indicate nor contain a date. Where a date is referenced or can be inferred I will include it.

IN SIBERIA