Following up on our post of January 20, Pat Solin sent in this comment. Readers will recall her illuminating three-part series of articles on Riverton and the Great War published last year (GN Jan 2017, GN March 2017, GN May 2017 ).
Of the six World War I Riverton Gold Star boys who died serving their country, two contracted influenza and died after a short but deadly outbreak in 1918 — Raymond Pratt and Charles Kelly. Still a terrible disease.
Recently a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently stated that the disease had not yet peaked and warns that the virus will be around for several more weeks.
We can’t predict what tomorrow’s headlines will bring, but it would be awesome if you were not the subject of a future news report about 2018 influenza mortality statistics. It is not too late to vaccinate now. -JMc
