A mess of men outside the mess hall at Camp Vail. George Frey wrote on the verso, "Mess Call 13th Service Camp Vail".
Despite its namesake, the Camp Vail in this photograph is unrelated to the Vail that would become a booming ski town near George Frey's hometown. Camp Vail was a training center commissioned in 1917 located in east-central New Jersey. Its namesake is Alfred Vail, who worked with Samuel Morse to develop the commercial telegraph. Similarly, Camp Vail was a signal corps training center where soldiers would learn how to provide necessary communication support for the war effort, home and abroad. The site later became Fort Monmouth and is now known as Fort Monmouth Historic Site.
