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Dear Mother & Family: -
"There's a long, long, night of waiting". The days seem like weeks now.
Everything is so quiet, nothing to do and we just sit here all day by the
fires & plan. First we are going through to the German border, then we are
going home, then to Paris and one rumour follows another and no one knows
what we are going to do. We are just a short distance behind the lines in
a ruined village but have a good warm room & an open fireplace. No trouble
to get wood because the town is all in splinters.
Time was hanging heavy yesterday so I wandered over to call on Fratz
Keller. I had dinner with him then in the P.M. we went out to the dump and
spent a few hours with Ed and Artie Brynne and Jack Wentz. They are all in
fine health. I was sorry to learn from them of Bob Ramsey's and Lt.
Braddock's death. Frank Hill was well acquainted with Braddock and will be
sorry to learn of his death. Poor Ramsey gave his life in an effort to
rescue his pal Lt. Court from Mt. P. Its tough to have to check up on who
is left. Last I saw Bob he was a fine looking soldier and with that just a
big healthy kid. I am at last reconciled to the fact that I'll never see
Hump anymore. His first Sgt. told me he had the report of his death and
told me how game he went down in his attempt to get ammunition to his gun.
He said he never saw a better display of courage from any man who was hit
so hard. He was conscious and talked to them all before he was carried
from the field. In my last talk with him which was on the eve of our going
over the top in the Argonne he seemed to have a premonition that he
wouldn't come through & for some reason I couldn't lift him out of his
frame of mind. I’ll never have a closer friend and I choke when I think of
Ruth & his folks receiving such news in the hour of rejoicing and triumph.
"It is the war" as the French say, mother, and many of us have lost our
best pals. I've been fighting & trying not to believe that my old pal is
buried somewhere with the others who gave their "last full measure of
devotion", but I know he did his duty to the last & died with his face the
right way. Death. After the last few months of looking at nothing but
death & operating instruments of death, you can never imagine our joy when
the sights which were good for no man to look at were forever removed from
our sight and one saw them slip the leather covers over guns which I hope
are silent forever.
I know you have heard all this sad news along with that of our victory and
you know how badly I feel so I'll turn to other things.
Today we were seated here before the fire when a timid knock sounded on
the door & when we said, "come in" an old woman entered & when she had
gazed about the room she clasped her hands in a gesture of dismay and the
big tears streamed down her cheeks. She explained to us that this was her
home from which she had been driven three years ago by the Hun. It was a
fine place at one time but now there is one room left of the ruins. We see
some sad pictures each day as these peasants stand before their ruined
homes wondering where they will start to clean up the horrible wreakage.
Sons gone, fathers gone, husbands gone these women return from God knows
where to spend the rest of their existence where once they lived in
happiness. Their morale is wonderful! Their praise of us is unlimited and
at the same time pathetic for we know that as the(y) look at us they can
see their own boys who paid the price holding the thin line until we came.
Last evening we had a little gathering here before the fire expressing our
thots (sic) on what each nation had done in the war and Sgt. Meredith of
whom I have told you gave a short talk on the situation & told us of a few
lines he had written some time ago in a dugout in the lines. Before the
war he was one of Harrisburg's best lawyers and has been a great side kick
and teacher for me ever since I came into the section. Here is a copy of
his speech.
Idle Thoughts of an Observer
(On Post in the Woevre, Nov .8, 1918)
Born of oppression, liberated by a Nation shortly itself to become a
Republic; it abolishes and thereby places the stamp of disapproval forever
upon the institution of human slavery; it drives the last relics of
Inquisition from the islands adjacent to its shores; becomes the saviour
of mankind; the preserve of human institutions and stands at last a mighty
barrier between civilization and the Dragon of Imperial Militarism,
proving again that the world cannot be ruled by the iron hand of man.
Surely -such a house is not built on sand to be swept away by the
whimsical tides of Passion, of Fashion or of sentiment, but as a nation,
the United States of America ought rightly and justly to endure forever.
He is a wonderful old man, forty-
two years of age and he’s never missed a day throughout the whole
campaign. He left his business, family and all to join up and is a
splendid example of a true Patriot.
Well, mother dear, I’ll be with you soon again and now that it is over I
can hardly wait to see all my loved ones again. Oh! what a day that will
be. I don't know whether my weak heart will stand it. I want to hurry back
for surely I must have been spared for a reason. This influenza has us all
scared to death when we read of how it has swept the States. Hope you all
escaped. How is Aunt Lib standing up? We don't know, as usual, what we are
going to do next but just eat, sleep and sing, "Where do we go from here,
boys, where do we go from here"?
Best to dad & Grace & Florence and all and I keep writing till I get
there. Its almost too much when we think our next move may be toward home.
"Whoppee"! Love & kisses enough to go around many times.
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