Garner had his first taste of European adventure when he enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman toward the end of the First World War, headed for France. In Garner’s war-time journal, he comments on encountering a U.S. Negro division from Battle Creek, Michigan, the horrors of battle, and the joy of Armistice Day. After the War, Garner enjoyed leisure time in Arkansas and Louisiana. In the early 1930s, he began his career in journalism and broadcasting.
