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Another Message From The Boys In FranceThe following IctUr was received by the family of Sergt. Major Clip-ton Willis, now “somewhere in France”:Safe in France,July 4. 1918.My Dear Mother, Father and all the reft: Well this is some countryand this is some war; it has been, if you shoot me, i’ll shoot you; but the U. S. A. boys will make them change their minds soon and the war will end. 1 hope so, anyway. We „re all well and are always glad to hear from anybody from home. We tell eurh other what anybody writes, so let me hear from you all often, as I a in not with the home boys, it is sometimes 12 to 15 days before I see any of our boys, but we are always glad to nee each other. TeU papa 1 wish he could see these French packs. They are something like the old ones used in the Civil war, about fourteen inches across, fifteen inches high, four inches thick, covered with canvas. We roll our blankets and put them around or on top of packs and strap them on our backs. The rifles are almost as tall as I urn, u little heavier than ours, the bayonet is longer, round groved, tapering to u point of blue, hard steel, and carried in a round case of steel also. Kifles have radium sports on them, two at rear sight and one at front sight, so that we can sight at night.The mess pans are a joke, about five inches deep, and five inches across the top und four inches at the bot-u*n. The cups are another joke. They are about the size of a regular coffee cup. These hills and trenches over here ure surely hard on us all. The shells go through the air, sounding like a street car on a hill, and to hear them explode is some loud noise. We can tell what size the shell is by the noise it makes when exploding.I will write to Rev. Day some time soon, and you can tell everybody that I, as well as others, like to receive mail, as that is a great enjoyment to us. If you could hear the boys sing sometimes you couldn’t think we were in the front line trenches with the German line as close as 100 feet in some places.Airplane battles are daily affairs and the days that are quiet we complain and wish for action. In moving from one section to another weare shelled all along the way and wt have become professional dodgers, but such is life in the army. I feel proud of the fact that there is a star in the Service Flag at the church for me ard so many others. We all hope to get home to see the new church completed.All Germany wants to know is your address and they will send you a 7f. or 105 mile range shell, and if you don't reply or send regrets they will send you some gas and it is up to us to catch it and bottle it up or put on our gas masks in five seconds.The sad part of it all is when we pass through a city where there is nothing left to what was beautiful palaces, etc., but the foundations, 1 want you to send me a picture of everybody as 1 want to keep up with you all. It seems like I have been away so long that you have changed. And as soon as we come across a city that has a photographer 1 will send mine to you.Your letter was interesting, but let me have more of them, and I don’t care how long they are. There are a number of things that we do to make life more enjoyable in the trenches, sometimes we almost forget that we are here.Last week we had a gcod time eating and singing; we took a trip in our minds to the U. S., we went to Montgomery, Ala., Newport News, Va., Chicago, St. Ixmia, and Cleveland; from there we took the Big Four to Dayton, went around differ-, ent places there, then we came back | to France about 4 a. m. the next morning. It was some trip; we all enjoyed it, as we forgot we were so far from home.Some one is ulways saying something funny that will make us laugh und for every song that we sang in the States we have given new words that match with the trenches, so you see we are all happy, and days thut we have or hear no battles we complain and say it is too quiet.Tell everybody the boys from home are all well and doing some mighty fine work, and you all should feel very proud of your boys over here.Give my love to all the folks. I pray for u» all.Be good, write often und 1 will do the same.With love, I remain your son,Clifton.
Newspaper Details
The Dayton Forum
Dayton, Ohio, US
Fri, Aug 16, 1918
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Gina S.
USA 17 Jan 2025
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