The day after Fred Hall joined the army, he wrote the following “diary,” as he called it, about his introduction to military life:

"Enlisted in the U. S. Army December 11, 1917 Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. Left Asheville, N. C. on December 12, 1917 with 96 other enlisted men of Western North Carolina. One man was taken with measles and met at train in Cincinnatti with goverment ambulance. We reached Cincinnatti on December 13th marched up the street and caught the trolley for Ft. Thomas, Ky. Reached Ft. Thomas at six oclock P. M. and was up all night long in order to be examined, signed up and other necessary requirements before becoming a soldier. On the morning of the 14th, I was introduced to the mess hall, myself and others of my party, Davis, Black, Grindstaff, Carr, Fisher etc. Falling in line we were given our mess kits after which they were filled with a mixture of Irish potatoes, apple sauce, corn flakes, sugar, a bottle of milk and a cup of coffee. The remainder was spent in a long barracks waiting to be placed in our company. No other meals were eaten in the mess hall that day by our little bunch of Asheville boys. About six P. M. we were assigned to company 13 for the night. Had three blankets issued us and in this long barracks, with two large stoves to heat the building our Asheville boys, who had not batted an eye the night before spent a very peaceful night."

Frederick Nelson Hall