Research Notes: Rand & Buehler Watches
Four years later, in 2016, I saw Col. Rand's watch on eBay, and slowly realized that I owned another watch whose owner had also been stationed at Camp Taylor -- Dr. Eugene Buehler. I found the 1918 "Camp Travis - and Its Part in the World War" book online, downloaded it, and then discovered the photo with both Col. Rand and Maj. Buehler -- and all the bells began to ring!
This is what makes my research so interesting -- what are the odds that I would be able to find two watches belonging to WW1 doctors who were professional and personal associates -- and whose careers were so extensively documented?
"Uniting Two WW1 Doctors & Their Watches"
I am a Hoosier -- born & raised in Indianapolis. I was just beginning to collect watches in 2012 when I found Dr. Buehler's watch on eBay with its "Indianapolis Ind" inscription. A quick search of the Internet / Ancestry.com / Newspapers.com made this a "must buy" watch, with dozens of articles about Dr. Buehler. He was not only a prominent physician, but also served as Indy's commissioner of public health from 1900 - 1910 in an era of typhoid, measles, and no modern sanitation; an assistant surgeon in the Spanish-American War; and the commander of Sanitation at Camp Travis TX during WW1.