TRANSCRIBED FROM THE BENTON COURIER JANUARY 9, 1919 P. 2
Dear Dad,
I received your letter yesterday and was very glad to hear from you. I am getting along fine and will be up out of bed on crutches. I sure was glad to get up out of bed. I was in bed four months and eleven days and when a fellow lies flat on his back in bed that long it sure seems good to be up.
You should have seen the French people when the armistice was signed. They sere were happy and had a right to be when they have been at war for four years.
I don’t think it will be long before I am on my way home.
You asked me to explain how I was wounded. Well, I was wounded just below the knee by a high explosive shell. I have a broken leg and about three inches of the bone is gone as it was shattered. It is getting along fine now and has been filled in with new bone. It isn’t strong yet, for I still have to wear a splint on my leg.
Well, dad, I don’t think it will be long before I am home, so I guess I had better come to a close for this time by sending love to all.
Your son,
Collier Dawson
Base Hospital No. 18. A.E F.
NOTES: Collier Charles Dawson was born in Ruston, Louisiana on October 17, 1892 and died in Los Angeles, California on July 13, 1958. He departed from Hoboken, NJ on April 23, 1918 onboard the Mercury. He was serving as a Pvt. in Co. 1 Camp Beauregard Replacement Draft April Infantry. He departed Bordeaux, France on February 11, 1919 arriving in Hoboken, NJ onboard the Wilhelmina. He was serving as a Pvt. in Co. E. 328th Infantry.
TRANSCRIBED BY SHANNON SOUTHARD
Dear Dad,
I received your letter yesterday and was very glad to hear from you. I am getting along fine and will be up out of bed on crutches. I sure was glad to get up out of bed. I was in bed four months and eleven days and when a fellow lies flat on his back in bed that long it sure seems good to be up.
You should have seen the French people when the armistice was signed. They sere were happy and had a right to be when they have been at war for four years.
I don’t think it will be long before I am on my way home.
You asked me to explain how I was wounded. Well, I was wounded just below the knee by a high explosive shell. I have a broken leg and about three inches of the bone is gone as it was shattered. It is getting along fine now and has been filled in with new bone. It isn’t strong yet, for I still have to wear a splint on my leg.
Well, dad, I don’t think it will be long before I am home, so I guess I had better come to a close for this time by sending love to all.
Your son,
Collier Dawson
Base Hospital No. 18. A.E F.
NOTES: Collier Charles Dawson was born in Ruston, Louisiana on October 17, 1892 and died in Los Angeles, California on July 13, 1958. He departed from Hoboken, NJ on April 23, 1918 onboard the Mercury. He was serving as a Pvt. in Co. 1 Camp Beauregard Replacement Draft April Infantry. He departed Bordeaux, France on February 11, 1919 arriving in Hoboken, NJ onboard the Wilhelmina. He was serving as a Pvt. in Co. E. 328th Infantry.
TRANSCRIBED BY SHANNON SOUTHARD