December 19, 1918 – Full diary entry:

“Had a talk with Lieut. Silverstein tonight. Had a nice visit. Got a responsible job.”

I’ve mentioned five or six times that Robert was a hustler – I mean that in the best sense of the word – in the way he was always looking for a way to improve his situation.

In June, he wanted to transfer to a Truck Company.

That same month, he went to Division HQ in Arches to ask for a transfer (and got punished when he returned).

In July, he got a friend to try and get him a job as an officer’s driver.

In August, he wanted to join the Intelligence Branch.

In October, he got a job as Lieutenant Silverstein’s orderly, which led immediately to a promotion. Obviously that relationship continued.

It’s not all that surprising. Robert was a traveling salesman before the war and was a salesman and real estate agent afterward. This is from the Minneapolis Star, May 30, 1947:

Check out the wording in that first ad! Looking at the other ads from that era, I can tell you that other realtors were not spending their per-word ad budget on this kind of salesmanship.

He wasn’t always successful, but he never stopped trying.

Where was Robert today? See the timeline.