TRANSCRIBED FROM THE DEQUEEN BEE JANUARY 17, 1919 P. 2
Field Hospital Co. No. 21,
4th Sanitary Train, A. E. F. France
Oct. 9th, 1918.
Mrs. Herman Coats,
Lockesburg, Ark.
My Dear Mrs. Coats:
You have doubtless been notified of the death of your beloved husband in France through the regular channels of the Adjutant General’s Department of the United States Army. We, his companions and brothers in arms, both officers and men, members together of the Field Hospital Company No. 21, 4th Sanitary Train hasten to extend our sincere sympathy to you in your unspeakable distress in the loss of your beloved husband in the course of cruel battle. We wish to express our cordial affection and honest respect for his manliness and soldierly qualities, mindful of how much he sacrificed in leaving his home and country in the defense of what he considered to be right.
Under the conditions of camp life, both in America and France, soldiers have peculiar opportunities to learn the qualities of each man. Everything that is genuine is quickly discerned. Therefore, we, his brothers of Field Hospital Company No. 21, 4th Sanitary Train, both officers and men, are pleased to tell you that we all admired and respected and loved your husband and we feel with you a deep personal sense of loss. We will miss him in every department of our common camp life, because of his good nature, his fidelity to duty and his willingness to always bear his share of the work. He was struck down by shell fire while doing his duty attending wounded patients just brought in from the battle field. He allowed no terrors of the night to divert him: he stood by his post, he was busy with acts of mercy at the time of his death. We are all proud to think that we have had such a man in our company and we will profit by his example.
We want you to know our sorrow for your sake and hope the future will vindicate for you the sacrifice which you made in surrendering him to fight for his country and her honor in the cause of liberty. We pray that God will sustain you in this time.
With profound respect and sympathy we remain.
Yours truly,
Clinton L. Hay,
Major M.C. U.S. Army
Comdj. Company
James C. Bartlett, Major M.C.
Clarence B. Naffin, Capt. D.C.
Carl W. Marrow, 1st Lt., M.C.
W. A. H. Steinman, 1st Lt. M.C.
Rev. Collings Caton, M.A., Y.M.C.A.
NOTES: This letter concerns the death of Herman Coats and was sent to his wife Addie by Major Clinton Hay. Coats was born on August 2, 1882 in Grover Hill, Ohio and died of wounds on October 1, 1918 in France. Though a stone was placed in the Park Cemetery in Fairmont, Indiana, his body was not recovered. He was living in Sevier County when he registered for the draft. He enlisted at Texarkana, Arkansas on September 17, 1917. He served with Field Hospital Company No. 21, Sanitary Train, 4th Division. He departed New York, NY on May 27, 1918 onboard the Melita.
TRANSCRIBED BY SHANNON SOUTHARD
Field Hospital Co. No. 21,
4th Sanitary Train, A. E. F. France
Oct. 9th, 1918.
Mrs. Herman Coats,
Lockesburg, Ark.
My Dear Mrs. Coats:
You have doubtless been notified of the death of your beloved husband in France through the regular channels of the Adjutant General’s Department of the United States Army. We, his companions and brothers in arms, both officers and men, members together of the Field Hospital Company No. 21, 4th Sanitary Train hasten to extend our sincere sympathy to you in your unspeakable distress in the loss of your beloved husband in the course of cruel battle. We wish to express our cordial affection and honest respect for his manliness and soldierly qualities, mindful of how much he sacrificed in leaving his home and country in the defense of what he considered to be right.
Under the conditions of camp life, both in America and France, soldiers have peculiar opportunities to learn the qualities of each man. Everything that is genuine is quickly discerned. Therefore, we, his brothers of Field Hospital Company No. 21, 4th Sanitary Train, both officers and men, are pleased to tell you that we all admired and respected and loved your husband and we feel with you a deep personal sense of loss. We will miss him in every department of our common camp life, because of his good nature, his fidelity to duty and his willingness to always bear his share of the work. He was struck down by shell fire while doing his duty attending wounded patients just brought in from the battle field. He allowed no terrors of the night to divert him: he stood by his post, he was busy with acts of mercy at the time of his death. We are all proud to think that we have had such a man in our company and we will profit by his example.
We want you to know our sorrow for your sake and hope the future will vindicate for you the sacrifice which you made in surrendering him to fight for his country and her honor in the cause of liberty. We pray that God will sustain you in this time.
With profound respect and sympathy we remain.
Yours truly,
Clinton L. Hay,
Major M.C. U.S. Army
Comdj. Company
James C. Bartlett, Major M.C.
Clarence B. Naffin, Capt. D.C.
Carl W. Marrow, 1st Lt., M.C.
W. A. H. Steinman, 1st Lt. M.C.
Rev. Collings Caton, M.A., Y.M.C.A.
NOTES: This letter concerns the death of Herman Coats and was sent to his wife Addie by Major Clinton Hay. Coats was born on August 2, 1882 in Grover Hill, Ohio and died of wounds on October 1, 1918 in France. Though a stone was placed in the Park Cemetery in Fairmont, Indiana, his body was not recovered. He was living in Sevier County when he registered for the draft. He enlisted at Texarkana, Arkansas on September 17, 1917. He served with Field Hospital Company No. 21, Sanitary Train, 4th Division. He departed New York, NY on May 27, 1918 onboard the Melita.
TRANSCRIBED BY SHANNON SOUTHARD