TRANSCRIBED FROM THE SPECTATOR NOVEMBER 8, 1918 P. 4
What would you rather shoot at than a U-boat? Uncle Sam has ordered an unrestricted open season for this variety of game. He wants keen, young hunters to man his ocean "fox hounds," the submarine chasers. If you want to join in the excitement of this war, here is your chance. If you are the right sort of man, the kind that doesn't weaken, you will make a good sub-chaser man. To begin with, to go submarine chasing, it isn't enough to be sound in mind, limb and morals, and to be the right age and sex, as an initial guarrantee of fitness and instincts. You have to know something about the modern devices of warfare, such as depth charges, listening tubes and signals. So all the 'fox hounds' are scent to where they get two or three months of intensive war time training. By the time they say good bye to God's country, they know all about the "110 footers," then comes that long tiresome trip with your boat standing on its head half the time and the other half on its side, and with the little eating and sleeping that you can get comes the scent of gas and the throbbing of the three 250 H.P. engines, which all but drive your chaser from the water like a flying fish but after the many tiresome days of this comes welcome word from the 'Crow's nest' land, ho! what a happy bunch! They are across the big pond and will soon be out again charging the tin fishes. But have accomplished part of their task. They have aided in bringing across convoy of helpless merchantmen.
A few days later they are out again, bucking a stormy sea, which such small boats should only have to look at from a well protected harbor. But still the 110 footers are built to stand that and more.
All at once there is a crackle in the radio shock which you know is a cry for help, not from another little boat, but from a big one, and you are one of many called for aid. You send word by wireless that yor are coming and pass the word to the engine room "all you've got." You feel her shake and quiver as only a chaser can in a short while you are in sight of it: a big, burning freighter is going down and here and there are boat loads of brave sailors beining shot to pieces without a chance to strike back at the murderous Hun.
The ocean "Fox Hounds" are so small that they are within one or two thousand yards and then their three inch gun begins to spit fire and death. The U-boat answers but knows he is no match for the chaser. So he trys to dive. then a depth charge is droped near him by an expert and nothing is left to mark the grave is an oil-and-debris-covered sea.
Another sea pirate will never murder helpless women and children.
RALPH LEROY,
U.S. Naval Forces In Europe.
NOTES: This letter was written by Ralph LeRoy to his father Frank LeRoy. LeRoy was born on February 25, 1899 and died on April 23, 1978. He is buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Baxter County, Arkansas. His military headstone identifies him as a QM US Navy during World War I.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD
What would you rather shoot at than a U-boat? Uncle Sam has ordered an unrestricted open season for this variety of game. He wants keen, young hunters to man his ocean "fox hounds," the submarine chasers. If you want to join in the excitement of this war, here is your chance. If you are the right sort of man, the kind that doesn't weaken, you will make a good sub-chaser man. To begin with, to go submarine chasing, it isn't enough to be sound in mind, limb and morals, and to be the right age and sex, as an initial guarrantee of fitness and instincts. You have to know something about the modern devices of warfare, such as depth charges, listening tubes and signals. So all the 'fox hounds' are scent to where they get two or three months of intensive war time training. By the time they say good bye to God's country, they know all about the "110 footers," then comes that long tiresome trip with your boat standing on its head half the time and the other half on its side, and with the little eating and sleeping that you can get comes the scent of gas and the throbbing of the three 250 H.P. engines, which all but drive your chaser from the water like a flying fish but after the many tiresome days of this comes welcome word from the 'Crow's nest' land, ho! what a happy bunch! They are across the big pond and will soon be out again charging the tin fishes. But have accomplished part of their task. They have aided in bringing across convoy of helpless merchantmen.
A few days later they are out again, bucking a stormy sea, which such small boats should only have to look at from a well protected harbor. But still the 110 footers are built to stand that and more.
All at once there is a crackle in the radio shock which you know is a cry for help, not from another little boat, but from a big one, and you are one of many called for aid. You send word by wireless that yor are coming and pass the word to the engine room "all you've got." You feel her shake and quiver as only a chaser can in a short while you are in sight of it: a big, burning freighter is going down and here and there are boat loads of brave sailors beining shot to pieces without a chance to strike back at the murderous Hun.
The ocean "Fox Hounds" are so small that they are within one or two thousand yards and then their three inch gun begins to spit fire and death. The U-boat answers but knows he is no match for the chaser. So he trys to dive. then a depth charge is droped near him by an expert and nothing is left to mark the grave is an oil-and-debris-covered sea.
Another sea pirate will never murder helpless women and children.
RALPH LEROY,
U.S. Naval Forces In Europe.
NOTES: This letter was written by Ralph LeRoy to his father Frank LeRoy. LeRoy was born on February 25, 1899 and died on April 23, 1978. He is buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Baxter County, Arkansas. His military headstone identifies him as a QM US Navy during World War I.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD