Three weeks before the fighting stopped in World War I, a troop ship carrying American soldiers – many from the Augusta area -- sank after colliding with another ship off the coast of Scotland.

 The story played out on the front pages of The Augusta Chronicle. Long lists were published of the lost and found. But eventually everyone went on with their lives and we all forgot about the men who died aboard the HMS Otranto.

 Except for John Jahera, of Auburn, Ala.

 He contacted me, asking if I’d ever heard the story because his great uncle Ernest Nelson Gay was one of the casualties.

 “In doing some family history … “ he wrote, “I have learned more about a World War I tragedy that occurred in the Atlantic when the HMS Otranto collided with another ship resulting in many lost lives.  One of the lost was my great-uncle, Ernest Nelson Gay.

According to articles in The Augusta Chronicle there were a number of young men from Augusta who lost their lives in that tragedy.  It was first reported on the front page Oct. 13, 1918.  The headline read ‘Augusta Boys on Transport Sunk in North Channel.’

“There were a number of articles written that followed up on the sinking.  From what I can find, most if not all of the bodies were recovered but it was 1920 before they were returned to Augusta.  I recall my mother telling me that as a young girl she went with her father to the train station to recover her uncle's remains.  He was then buried in Iron Hill Cemetery in Dearing where the Gay family started and earlier ancestors are buried.

“I've attached the only picture I have of my great uncle.”

 Since then I have been looking around for something about the Otranto sinking and found a first-person account.

 Joseph Hewells, a World War I veteran who died 40 years ago, kept a journal of his wartime experiences, including the sinking of his ship.  His story is pretty descriptive:

“… we had just about finished up with our breakfast and hardly anybody knew that we were in a storm, although the ship was rocking from side to side so much that nothing would stay on the tables. All of a sudden there was a terrific jar and the ship trembled all over … in about 15 to 20 minutes word came down to us to get up on deck immediately.  ...

“Everybody went up leaving behind all their equipment and personal belongings. When we came out on deck the wind was blowing at the rate of 70 to 75 miles an hour, probably more or less, but a fellow would have to hold to ropes or something to keep from being blown overboard. Nobody I think knew what condition the ship was in for if they had known I am sure there would have been more excitement or panic among the men. The ship had been struck by another ship of the convoy, “The Kasmir”, which during the storm had heavy fog collided with us. I heard afterward the storm broke the rudder and control of the Kasmir was lost by the Captain and it came direct to us hitting the “Otranto” between amidship and bow on port side or left hand side ripping a terrible hole in the side …

 Hewells and others would eventually end up in the sea during the storm.

 “ We left about 450 to 500 soldiers and 200 sailors on board out of which only 18 managed to reach the shore alive. One of these 18 was a fellow out of the same company as I and he said that everybody stuck to the ship as long as they could and then they began jumping overboard and try to make it ashore which was only a 1 ½ to 2 miles off. He said that the last he saw of the ship was when she broke in two, in the middle, half going one way and half going the other. As there were numerous pieces of wreckage floating about and everybody who could, was trying to grasp something that would help him, this fellow said that he saw something white not very far from him and he made for it. On reaching it he clasped his arms around it and it happened to be a tub of lard which was floating around. The tub had been bursted off and when he caught on to it his arms mashed right into the lard and he said he was nothing but grease from head to foot. After some 1 ½ or 2 hours of struggling he finally made it ashore frozen and in a semi conscious condition.

 Hewells also made it to shore and survived. He and other survivors were transferred from Ireland, then to England, where he was sent to a ‘rest camp’ in Winchester.

 “While there,” he wrote in his journal, “the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.”

 We still remember that date.

Each year it marks our Veterans Day, and each year we remember those who fought, facing battles and bullets.

 But some who die serving their country did not perish at an enemy’s hand.  Their sacrifice is no less important.

 This Nov. 11, I might drive over to Dearing, find the Iron Hill Cemetery and pay my respects to Ernest Nelson Gay, who left his home in Augusta almost a century ago and died for his country in a foreign sea.