TRANSCRIBED FROM THE DEWITT ENTERPRISE JANUARY 23, 1919 P. 7
Camp Jackson, Jan. 14, 1919.
Editor Enterprise.
I will take pleasure in writing a few lines tonight, as I am sure that news from this camp will be of interest to some at home. I am still enjoying camp life, but not like I used to. Since the armistice was signed I feel like I don’t belong here any more. The spirit of the men in the camp is not the same, and it seems as if they have lost interest in their work and drilling. I know I don’t feel like I have the same interest as of old.
I was transferred last week to Camp Jockson at Columbia, S. C., which was my first training camp, but it is not the same here as it used to be. Everything is dead now. Most of the boys have been discharged, and we are waiting for the 63rd Louisiana from overseas to land in the camp soon to be mustered out. This was one of the best divisions that went across.
There are a lot of wounded soldiers here already who will get their discharges soon, and some of the boys who went across through our department are coming back to be discharged. I wish I were one of the boys coming back from overseas. I would feel much better if I could get a discharge from overseas but some of us had to be here to do the work that we are doing now. I don’t have any idea when I can get out, but expect to be here for two or three months, and maybe longer if we have to muster out all the men from across.
They say there is a lot of work to be done in France now. I don’t doubt that, because there is a lot of it to be done on this side. It is going to take just as long to demobilize as it did to get ready, if not longer. All of the camps in this state are going to be discontinued. That is the reason we had to leave Camp Sevier. Everybody is out and the camp wont be used any longer, but this camp is much better, so they are going to use it for a mustering-out camp. I am glad to know that the men who went across came back with a smile on their faces, and they said that the Germans were not hard to whip, after all, and that it is not --- hard to go “over the top” as some think. The negroes are coming back also, and we can give them the same honor as the others, because they did their part in this war. There are several in the hospital here now with three wound-stripes on their sleeves, and they are proud of them. I think all have done their part in this terrible war, black and white with or without uniforms, and that we are to be proud of the fact that we are living under the stars and stripes.
I don’t think it will be long before we are all home again and start a new life. It will be a new life, indeed, because it is going to be different from the army life. The army life during the past few weeks has not been what it used to be, and I feel that I have done my duty and am ready to go back to civilian life any time they send me, which I hope will be before long. I hope I will not have to spend another year in the army. The day that the armistice was signed was a great day to everybody, but the day I get my discharge is going to be a holiday for me every year, and I guess there are many more like me.
I like the climate of South Carolina. It is very pleasant here in winter, and so far we have had but very few days of cold weather. Everybody likes the weather, especially the northern boys, who are used to seeing snow on the ground during the winter months.
Well, as news is scarce, I will close by wishing a happy new year to all my friends who are in touch with your paper, which has given me lots of comfort since I have been here by giving me the news from home and my neighborhood.
L. A. Girerd,
Sixth Co., Second Tr. Battalion, 156 Depot Brigade
NOTES: Leon Adolph Girerd was born on April 4, 1894 and died on July 20, 1970. He is buried in the Cedarcrest Memorial Gardens in DeWitt, Arkansas. His military headstone shows that he was a Cpl., 15th Company, 156 Depot Brigade.
TRANSCRIBED BY JACOB GREEN
Camp Jackson, Jan. 14, 1919.
Editor Enterprise.
I will take pleasure in writing a few lines tonight, as I am sure that news from this camp will be of interest to some at home. I am still enjoying camp life, but not like I used to. Since the armistice was signed I feel like I don’t belong here any more. The spirit of the men in the camp is not the same, and it seems as if they have lost interest in their work and drilling. I know I don’t feel like I have the same interest as of old.
I was transferred last week to Camp Jockson at Columbia, S. C., which was my first training camp, but it is not the same here as it used to be. Everything is dead now. Most of the boys have been discharged, and we are waiting for the 63rd Louisiana from overseas to land in the camp soon to be mustered out. This was one of the best divisions that went across.
There are a lot of wounded soldiers here already who will get their discharges soon, and some of the boys who went across through our department are coming back to be discharged. I wish I were one of the boys coming back from overseas. I would feel much better if I could get a discharge from overseas but some of us had to be here to do the work that we are doing now. I don’t have any idea when I can get out, but expect to be here for two or three months, and maybe longer if we have to muster out all the men from across.
They say there is a lot of work to be done in France now. I don’t doubt that, because there is a lot of it to be done on this side. It is going to take just as long to demobilize as it did to get ready, if not longer. All of the camps in this state are going to be discontinued. That is the reason we had to leave Camp Sevier. Everybody is out and the camp wont be used any longer, but this camp is much better, so they are going to use it for a mustering-out camp. I am glad to know that the men who went across came back with a smile on their faces, and they said that the Germans were not hard to whip, after all, and that it is not --- hard to go “over the top” as some think. The negroes are coming back also, and we can give them the same honor as the others, because they did their part in this war. There are several in the hospital here now with three wound-stripes on their sleeves, and they are proud of them. I think all have done their part in this terrible war, black and white with or without uniforms, and that we are to be proud of the fact that we are living under the stars and stripes.
I don’t think it will be long before we are all home again and start a new life. It will be a new life, indeed, because it is going to be different from the army life. The army life during the past few weeks has not been what it used to be, and I feel that I have done my duty and am ready to go back to civilian life any time they send me, which I hope will be before long. I hope I will not have to spend another year in the army. The day that the armistice was signed was a great day to everybody, but the day I get my discharge is going to be a holiday for me every year, and I guess there are many more like me.
I like the climate of South Carolina. It is very pleasant here in winter, and so far we have had but very few days of cold weather. Everybody likes the weather, especially the northern boys, who are used to seeing snow on the ground during the winter months.
Well, as news is scarce, I will close by wishing a happy new year to all my friends who are in touch with your paper, which has given me lots of comfort since I have been here by giving me the news from home and my neighborhood.
L. A. Girerd,
Sixth Co., Second Tr. Battalion, 156 Depot Brigade
NOTES: Leon Adolph Girerd was born on April 4, 1894 and died on July 20, 1970. He is buried in the Cedarcrest Memorial Gardens in DeWitt, Arkansas. His military headstone shows that he was a Cpl., 15th Company, 156 Depot Brigade.
TRANSCRIBED BY JACOB GREEN