TRANSCRIBED FROM THE LONOKE DEMOCRAT MARCH 21, 1918 P1
Mrs. Sudie Cunning
Lonoke, Ark.
Dear Friend:
I received your interesting letter only a few days ago, and I assure you it was a rather pleasant surprise. I have been in the hospital for several days with a bad cold, will go out today. Believe me this French weather is pretty tough at times.
A few words here concerning myself. After I left Lonoke might be of interest to you. I went to St. Louis from Little Rock, from St. Louis to Kansas City, thence to Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Old Mexico, Utah, and then to Denver, Colorado, where I lived for three years previous to enlisting in the army. I was working in the test room or labratory of the Beatrice Creamery Co., at Denver at the time I enlisted last June. I was sent from the army post at Denver to Fort riley, Kansas for training. After a short period of training, I was sent to New York to embark for France. After spending about three weeks at Fort Joy, N. Y., we sailed, Sept. 8th, for France via England.
After an eventful voyage, as far as submarines were concerned, of about fourteen days, we arrived off the coast Ireland, and believe me it was one of the prettiest, greenest spots I ever saw. We sailed off the Irish coast for nearly the whole day and about two hours after dark we arrived outside of Liverpool harbor.
We stayed aboard ship that night and immediately docked the next day we took a train across the face of England to another port to re-embark for France.
We crossed the English Channell at night in a very swift boat. We took a train at a French port about dark, and early the next morning we were in Paris where we stayed for one day. After another day and night’s riding I arrived at Base hospital No. 18, also known as the John Hopkins Unit of Baltimore, so called because of the fact that John Hopkins organized the unit, and some of their doctors and instructors came over as offices, and the fourth year medical class came as privates.
We are so close to the line that we can hear the roaring of the big guns and also to be threatened by airoplain raids so that we have to turn out all lights. We are located in a very small but quaint old French village, but we occaionally get passes to the larger cities.
The greatest difficulty we have is to find amusement and recreation. We have a large Y. M. C. A. here but is limited and hampered in its work in so many ways that it does not serve us as it should.
Thank you for your kind offer of your service and will say that if you at any time, feel like doing a charitable as well as a patriotic act you may do so by sending us something to read and it will be passed from one to other til all who care to read have derive the full benefit from it.
Thanking you in advance, and hoping to hear from you again. I am
Pvt. Gus T. Owens
Base Hospital No. 18
Amer. Forces in France
NOTES:
TRANSCRIBED BY MIKE POLSTON
Mrs. Sudie Cunning
Lonoke, Ark.
Dear Friend:
I received your interesting letter only a few days ago, and I assure you it was a rather pleasant surprise. I have been in the hospital for several days with a bad cold, will go out today. Believe me this French weather is pretty tough at times.
A few words here concerning myself. After I left Lonoke might be of interest to you. I went to St. Louis from Little Rock, from St. Louis to Kansas City, thence to Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Old Mexico, Utah, and then to Denver, Colorado, where I lived for three years previous to enlisting in the army. I was working in the test room or labratory of the Beatrice Creamery Co., at Denver at the time I enlisted last June. I was sent from the army post at Denver to Fort riley, Kansas for training. After a short period of training, I was sent to New York to embark for France. After spending about three weeks at Fort Joy, N. Y., we sailed, Sept. 8th, for France via England.
After an eventful voyage, as far as submarines were concerned, of about fourteen days, we arrived off the coast Ireland, and believe me it was one of the prettiest, greenest spots I ever saw. We sailed off the Irish coast for nearly the whole day and about two hours after dark we arrived outside of Liverpool harbor.
We stayed aboard ship that night and immediately docked the next day we took a train across the face of England to another port to re-embark for France.
We crossed the English Channell at night in a very swift boat. We took a train at a French port about dark, and early the next morning we were in Paris where we stayed for one day. After another day and night’s riding I arrived at Base hospital No. 18, also known as the John Hopkins Unit of Baltimore, so called because of the fact that John Hopkins organized the unit, and some of their doctors and instructors came over as offices, and the fourth year medical class came as privates.
We are so close to the line that we can hear the roaring of the big guns and also to be threatened by airoplain raids so that we have to turn out all lights. We are located in a very small but quaint old French village, but we occaionally get passes to the larger cities.
The greatest difficulty we have is to find amusement and recreation. We have a large Y. M. C. A. here but is limited and hampered in its work in so many ways that it does not serve us as it should.
Thank you for your kind offer of your service and will say that if you at any time, feel like doing a charitable as well as a patriotic act you may do so by sending us something to read and it will be passed from one to other til all who care to read have derive the full benefit from it.
Thanking you in advance, and hoping to hear from you again. I am
Pvt. Gus T. Owens
Base Hospital No. 18
Amer. Forces in France
NOTES:
TRANSCRIBED BY MIKE POLSTON