"Our Company has been reorganized and we have gone from
35 to 160 men. I was made a first class private. They are
pretty particular here about men being efficient - two were
put out of our company, not enough stuff in their heads. They
are at the base hospital now awaiting their discharge. I would
hate to have to come home for that reason."
Nov. 15, 1917.
"I wish I could tell you just what this army camp is
like, but I am such a poor hand at description, am afraid you
will get
but a poor idea of it. Camp MacArthur covers about twenty-five
square miles, and the rifle range attached to it is about twelve
square miles, quite an area, don't you think? With the exception
of the land along the river it is all practically level, but
that it hilly and rocky. There are some mighty pretty places
down here, of course nothing like Wisconsin, but still they are
noticeable. It is nice and warm but the wind and dust are something
terrible, the dust covers everything and is certainly a fright,
one just craves rain. I never want to live in Texas, Wisconsin
is good enough for me.
"And now to give you an idea of the number of men, horses,
mules and trucks. There are about 35,000 men in all and
about 7,500 horses and mules. We have 900 animals in our
regiment alone, and about 1,000 motor trucks. From 7 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. every man, animal and truck is doing some form of duty.
You can imagine what is going on, hundreds of men drilling on
the parade ground, four mule teams and motor trucks hauling supplies
and one can look up and see an aeroplane sailing about most any
time. Every man, animal and machine is doing his duty in a business-like
manner and no one is loafing around.
"The main part of this camp or the business center is
the Quartermaster Department. This is made up of about twenty-
five large buildings where all the supplies are received
and then issued out to each regiment. Here you may see number
of four-mule teams coming in each morning to receive their rations;
they they are hauled to the different regiments. It is common,
even, to see twenty four-mule teams hauling their supplies away.
They look mighty fine all in one string and it means a lot of
stuff too. You know they take real loads on these army wagons.
"Of course no one knows just when or where we are going
but this regiment expects to leave here for somewhere in the
war zone about the middle of December. If we go across I
am looking forward to a wonderful trip and to some mighty good
experiences for me. A chance in a lifetime.
"Must close for it is nearly time for taps and I have
to check in the company to-night."
Somewhere in France, March 22, 1918.
"Since my last letter written in England, we have had
another change in station, and are now in France, 'Somewhere'
of
course. We are now settled in a permanent camp and I am glad
of it. I have had enough traveling to last me quite a while.
I was telling one of the fellows, I wanted to take one more trip
and that is home, and when I got there I never wanted to leave
it again, unless U.S.A. needs me. Before this time I have never
been anywhere outside the U.S., but now that I have been in other
countries and seen what is going on, I realize what the U.S.
and the Red, White and Blue mean, and I am certainly glad that
I am an enlisted man in the U.S. Army, and any time the U.S.A.
ever needs me again, you will find me right there on the job
if I am able to walk. Dad, you and mother don't know how well
off you are. That's what we are here for, that you may continue
to live in such a manner."
Oct. 12, 1918.
"I will have a whole lot to tell you of the 'Marne drive'
when I get home. It will surely go down in history. After we
got
done there we fought on the Soissons Front, which was as
bad. Now we are at another front, to my notion, the worst of
all. We did not get the long rest we expected, but came right
back into line again. It's got to be the regular life now, a
fellow can lie in bed and listen to the old hell-diggers come
over, and thing nothing of it. Z-z-z-z-Boom - and the dirt flies.
"I see the other fellows from home quite often and they
are all getting along fine - that is, the fellows in this regiment.
The
others I haven't seen for some time.
"You have probably read of how an enemy plane flies
low along the road and uses a machine gun down the column;
well, I happened to be in one of those incidents the other
day, but the guy didn't get very far before the plane fell to
the ground about a block ahead of where I was. Maybe I wasn't
working the old rifle some."