TRANSCRIBED FROM THE ARKANSAS GAZETTE MAY 5, 1918 P. 10
Somewhere in France, April 1, 1917
Dear Folks: You were no doubt surprised to hear that I was in France, but you will no doubt remember the prophecy I made when I joined the marines. If you recall I said that the reason I wanted to be a marine most of all was because I was sure that I would be in France the quickest with them, in fact, in less than four months, as times shows, I am correct, and believe me, I am glad to be here, not that I am living in luxury, but because I want quick action for my money and plenty of it. There is one thing sure, I will never regret joining the outfit I did. I have always contended that we got a little bit better than the army and I still say so. We have plenty to eat and plenty of blankets to keep us warm, which is all that a man can ask in these troubled times.
The best way for me to continue this is to give a brief description of my trip, which I hope will pass the hidden force, the censor. The strangest part of all was to see nothing but water. After a time we almost believed that all the land had been swallowed up by a great flood. The last thing you saw at night was water and the first thing when you arose in the morning was a watery expanse of unbelievable depth. Finally we arrived and were given our trains, our first taste of foreign lands. There is one thing we have decided, one and all, that this “old country” is thousands of years behind God’s country. When you see how long it takes to cover a comparatively few miles here and then figure how long it takes from New York to Frisco, it disgusts you. However, when you see the side door pullmans’ and ancient equipment you are not surprised. All along our road the people seemed glad to see us. In the town where we are now in we are billeted out in the town. At present I am located with some ___ other fellows in the third floor of an old barn that was built in 1812. From the looks of it, it must have been built in 1492 and they put the wrong date up. The first floor is for horses, the second floor is for hay and the third, up under the roof, for marines. It is so dark that you can hardly find where you sleep on the floor at night. Some of the fellows were luckier and were assigned to houses, but the dice rolled wrong for me this time.
It is really humorous to see the French people and one of the boys talk to each other. It is a fine ___ of English, French and gestures, mostly gestures. A fellow will go in to a store to buy something and will stand there a few minutes looking around, then he will start in to contort his features into all sort of shapes. My French has certainly stood me in good stead. I am not bragging when I say that any of the boys are glad for me to be around when they want to carry on a conversation. At least I can ask for anything I want to eat or drink which is more than most of the officers can do.
As usual, I have found a couple of good fellows for pals, both college men, Roy Robbins and Ralph Cook, from Philadelphia and Indianapolis, Ind. respectively. We are always together and share and share alike everything we have. Besides we are singers of note. We have the best trio in the outfit. To show you that this is not all imagination, I am going to let you in on a secret. On board ship on the way over, we were singing on deck in a secluded spot, enjoying ourselves thoroughly, when the chaplain, who ranks as a colonel, happened past. He stopped, listened a moment and remarked that our voices blended wonderfully and asked us to step into his quarters and reminded us that next Sunday was Palm Sunday. Following this he astonished us by asking us to open the services by singing a couple of religious songs. We agreed, glad to be of service, but unfortunately certain duties evolved on Roy which ruined it and it fell through.
You know, it is a funny thing, at home when a building gets old, it is torn down and replaced by a new one. Here I don’t believe people would be satisfied in any place that was built less than a couple of hundred years ago. All the houses are built of rock or concrete with red tile roofs. The people harmonize ___fully with their surroundings. ___ ___is old fashioned and their ___ ___ too polite and cordial to advance them far. Their extreme hospitality reminds me of the old South before the war.
Prohibition would never be a success in this country. Everybody drinks wine and beer like water. I was very much amused at one old ___, who remarked the wine is very high now, 40 cents a quart, ___ ___ now selling at the extremely ___ ___of two-quart bottles for ___ ___or about 18 cents.
When you have finished this letter and have passed it around among the family, please send it to my ___. There is one part I want ___for his special benefit, that is about the girls. As a set thing they ___ homeliest bunch I ever set eyes on. You know I was always ___ funny that way. If a girl wasn’t good looking I wouldn’t even be seen with her on the street. Well so far there are only four girls who could even have the pleasure of my company across the street. The rest were too homely for description.
When you write address me as follows:
Private Maxwell J. Lyons,
138th Company,
2d Replacement Battalion,
U. S. M. C.,
American Expeditionary Forces, via New York.
All the love in the world from your son,
Maxwell J. Lyons,
P. S. I know this is an awfully rotten letter, poorly written and poorly penned, but I don’t believe anything else will get by.
NOTES: SEVERAL WORDS IN THIS LETTER COULD NOT BE READ. This is a letter written by Pvt. Maxwell Joseph Lyons to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lyons. Maxwell was determined to get into the military and tried four times. He was told he was too heavy and was turned down each time. He finally went to Washington D. C. to plead his case and was accepted into the Marines. He was born May 10, 1896. He died October 7, 1978 and is buried in Oakland and Fraternal Cemetery, Little Rock. HE APPEARS TO HAVE DATED THE LETTER INCORRECTLY (1917), IT IS LIKELY 1918. WRITTEN. HIS PICTURE ACCOMPANIES THE ARTICLE IN THE GAZETTE.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
Somewhere in France, April 1, 1917
Dear Folks: You were no doubt surprised to hear that I was in France, but you will no doubt remember the prophecy I made when I joined the marines. If you recall I said that the reason I wanted to be a marine most of all was because I was sure that I would be in France the quickest with them, in fact, in less than four months, as times shows, I am correct, and believe me, I am glad to be here, not that I am living in luxury, but because I want quick action for my money and plenty of it. There is one thing sure, I will never regret joining the outfit I did. I have always contended that we got a little bit better than the army and I still say so. We have plenty to eat and plenty of blankets to keep us warm, which is all that a man can ask in these troubled times.
The best way for me to continue this is to give a brief description of my trip, which I hope will pass the hidden force, the censor. The strangest part of all was to see nothing but water. After a time we almost believed that all the land had been swallowed up by a great flood. The last thing you saw at night was water and the first thing when you arose in the morning was a watery expanse of unbelievable depth. Finally we arrived and were given our trains, our first taste of foreign lands. There is one thing we have decided, one and all, that this “old country” is thousands of years behind God’s country. When you see how long it takes to cover a comparatively few miles here and then figure how long it takes from New York to Frisco, it disgusts you. However, when you see the side door pullmans’ and ancient equipment you are not surprised. All along our road the people seemed glad to see us. In the town where we are now in we are billeted out in the town. At present I am located with some ___ other fellows in the third floor of an old barn that was built in 1812. From the looks of it, it must have been built in 1492 and they put the wrong date up. The first floor is for horses, the second floor is for hay and the third, up under the roof, for marines. It is so dark that you can hardly find where you sleep on the floor at night. Some of the fellows were luckier and were assigned to houses, but the dice rolled wrong for me this time.
It is really humorous to see the French people and one of the boys talk to each other. It is a fine ___ of English, French and gestures, mostly gestures. A fellow will go in to a store to buy something and will stand there a few minutes looking around, then he will start in to contort his features into all sort of shapes. My French has certainly stood me in good stead. I am not bragging when I say that any of the boys are glad for me to be around when they want to carry on a conversation. At least I can ask for anything I want to eat or drink which is more than most of the officers can do.
As usual, I have found a couple of good fellows for pals, both college men, Roy Robbins and Ralph Cook, from Philadelphia and Indianapolis, Ind. respectively. We are always together and share and share alike everything we have. Besides we are singers of note. We have the best trio in the outfit. To show you that this is not all imagination, I am going to let you in on a secret. On board ship on the way over, we were singing on deck in a secluded spot, enjoying ourselves thoroughly, when the chaplain, who ranks as a colonel, happened past. He stopped, listened a moment and remarked that our voices blended wonderfully and asked us to step into his quarters and reminded us that next Sunday was Palm Sunday. Following this he astonished us by asking us to open the services by singing a couple of religious songs. We agreed, glad to be of service, but unfortunately certain duties evolved on Roy which ruined it and it fell through.
You know, it is a funny thing, at home when a building gets old, it is torn down and replaced by a new one. Here I don’t believe people would be satisfied in any place that was built less than a couple of hundred years ago. All the houses are built of rock or concrete with red tile roofs. The people harmonize ___fully with their surroundings. ___ ___is old fashioned and their ___ ___ too polite and cordial to advance them far. Their extreme hospitality reminds me of the old South before the war.
Prohibition would never be a success in this country. Everybody drinks wine and beer like water. I was very much amused at one old ___, who remarked the wine is very high now, 40 cents a quart, ___ ___ now selling at the extremely ___ ___of two-quart bottles for ___ ___or about 18 cents.
When you have finished this letter and have passed it around among the family, please send it to my ___. There is one part I want ___for his special benefit, that is about the girls. As a set thing they ___ homeliest bunch I ever set eyes on. You know I was always ___ funny that way. If a girl wasn’t good looking I wouldn’t even be seen with her on the street. Well so far there are only four girls who could even have the pleasure of my company across the street. The rest were too homely for description.
When you write address me as follows:
Private Maxwell J. Lyons,
138th Company,
2d Replacement Battalion,
U. S. M. C.,
American Expeditionary Forces, via New York.
All the love in the world from your son,
Maxwell J. Lyons,
P. S. I know this is an awfully rotten letter, poorly written and poorly penned, but I don’t believe anything else will get by.
NOTES: SEVERAL WORDS IN THIS LETTER COULD NOT BE READ. This is a letter written by Pvt. Maxwell Joseph Lyons to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lyons. Maxwell was determined to get into the military and tried four times. He was told he was too heavy and was turned down each time. He finally went to Washington D. C. to plead his case and was accepted into the Marines. He was born May 10, 1896. He died October 7, 1978 and is buried in Oakland and Fraternal Cemetery, Little Rock. HE APPEARS TO HAVE DATED THE LETTER INCORRECTLY (1917), IT IS LIKELY 1918. WRITTEN. HIS PICTURE ACCOMPANIES THE ARTICLE IN THE GAZETTE.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT