TRANSCRIBED FROM THE MOUNTAIN ECHO MAY 2, 1919 P. 1
Dear Father:
Will answer your highly appreciated letters which came to hand a few minutes ago, and believe me, they sure cheer me up considerably. Was glad to hear that you received a letter from me at last. I think the mail system will be better now, as there are not so many soldiers over here. It took your letter 20 days to come.
You asked me what I was doing. We are drilling here the same as we did in Douglas, Ariz., only not quite so hard. We have a theater and moving pictures two or three times a week, but still it is very monotonous. A fellow’s mind is always back in the good old U. S. A.
You also asked why we had to hike so for, and if there weren’t any trains. In the first place, when the armistice was signed, the army of occupation had to be at the bridge heads in a certain length of time, therefore some divisions had to hike, while some went on the trains, for you know it would take lots of trains to move an army.
I will tell you a little about my trip. We embarked at Hoboken, N. J., April 22nd, and landed at Bordeaux, France, May 7th, 1918. We stayed in the barracks there for about two weeks, then went to Guere, where there is an artillery training camp. There we drew our guns and trained for about a month. From there we took a train (or what you might call a train, we call them side door sleepers, more like a stock car than anything else) for the front. After we got off the train, we had about two days hiking before we got to the front at Chateau Thierry; went into action 11th of July, and on the 15th of July H___ broke loose in big bunches. They must have shot everything at us that night that was ever used, and, believe me, they got all that was coming to them also, and they began to retreat, or what was left alive did, and then we crossed the Marne river, and went into position by a little town by the name of Mont St. Pierre, and they also shelled us, and that didn’t seem to satisfy them so they would come over with airplanes and bomb us. Then we were relieved and sent here. If you have been reading after the war very much probably you have seen where the 3rd Division turned the Germans at the battle of the Marne, and believe me, it was some battle. Gas and everything else that was ever used was used there. The people of Paris, a distance of 60 or 70 miles, heard the guns.
Well it is getting late, so will close. As ever, your son,
Bill Estes
NOTES: Letter was written to his father, Lee Estes. It was written from Krupt, Rhineland, Germany. Estes was a part of the army of occupation.
TRANSCRIBED BY MIKE POLSTON
Dear Father:
Will answer your highly appreciated letters which came to hand a few minutes ago, and believe me, they sure cheer me up considerably. Was glad to hear that you received a letter from me at last. I think the mail system will be better now, as there are not so many soldiers over here. It took your letter 20 days to come.
You asked me what I was doing. We are drilling here the same as we did in Douglas, Ariz., only not quite so hard. We have a theater and moving pictures two or three times a week, but still it is very monotonous. A fellow’s mind is always back in the good old U. S. A.
You also asked why we had to hike so for, and if there weren’t any trains. In the first place, when the armistice was signed, the army of occupation had to be at the bridge heads in a certain length of time, therefore some divisions had to hike, while some went on the trains, for you know it would take lots of trains to move an army.
I will tell you a little about my trip. We embarked at Hoboken, N. J., April 22nd, and landed at Bordeaux, France, May 7th, 1918. We stayed in the barracks there for about two weeks, then went to Guere, where there is an artillery training camp. There we drew our guns and trained for about a month. From there we took a train (or what you might call a train, we call them side door sleepers, more like a stock car than anything else) for the front. After we got off the train, we had about two days hiking before we got to the front at Chateau Thierry; went into action 11th of July, and on the 15th of July H___ broke loose in big bunches. They must have shot everything at us that night that was ever used, and, believe me, they got all that was coming to them also, and they began to retreat, or what was left alive did, and then we crossed the Marne river, and went into position by a little town by the name of Mont St. Pierre, and they also shelled us, and that didn’t seem to satisfy them so they would come over with airplanes and bomb us. Then we were relieved and sent here. If you have been reading after the war very much probably you have seen where the 3rd Division turned the Germans at the battle of the Marne, and believe me, it was some battle. Gas and everything else that was ever used was used there. The people of Paris, a distance of 60 or 70 miles, heard the guns.
Well it is getting late, so will close. As ever, your son,
Bill Estes
NOTES: Letter was written to his father, Lee Estes. It was written from Krupt, Rhineland, Germany. Estes was a part of the army of occupation.
TRANSCRIBED BY MIKE POLSTON