TRANSCRIBED FROM THE ARKANSAS GAZETTE FEBRUARY 15, 1919 P. 8
We stay at Brest a short time and entrained for the front. We arrived at La Ferte-Sous-Jourre, on the Marne river, just behind the lines, for a period of training. It was there that we swam the Marne, while above us the aircraft fought numerous battles and the roar of cannon continued day and night. It was exciting to lie in your bunk at night while enemy planes flew overhead and the roar at the front rattled the windows and you wondered what it would be like when you were sent up. On July 10 we moved up nearer, and this time huge shells began to whine overhead.
The enemy drive started on the Marne on July 14, and the good old Fourth went over the top on July 18.
We stayed in the fight until August 14, when we were relieved. The battalion was then at Mirueil, just behind the Vesie river, which you read so much about. At this place we worked at a dressing station. The town was almost leveled and was under fire continually. I almost got mine here. A shrapnel shell burst overhead and a piece just missed a stretcher on which two of us were carrying a man. Also the linesome screech and whine of many others made me wish I had been a better boy.
Well, we rested from August 14 to September 8, and then went into support of the St. Mihiel drive, of which you have read. We were on the second line here until the 17th and moved to the Argonne-Meuse front, and on the night of the 26th we were up with the guns when the biggest barrage was put over I ever saw. Our boys went over the top just before daylight, and gathered the harvest. By noon on the 27th, long lines of Boches began flowing to the rear, and on the 28th my bunch went in just west of the Meuse at Cnise, near Mt. Faucon and Septdarges, Cuisy, as well as all the other big and little towns in that section, had been leveled since 1914. The only thing intact in the whole place was the figure of Christ left in the ruins of the church. The towns in that section are all built of stone and mortar.
If you can imagine a town the size of Plainview absolutely shot level to the ground, you may get a small idea of what it looked like. The trees were all blackened, shot away and dead. It was a picture of desolation, and no living thing but us in sight. Hill No. 304 and Dead Man’s hill where the awful fighting in 1914 took place, looks like an immense anthill. You could not put your finger down for acres and acres on those hills without touching a shell hole. That was where I spent September 28 until October 18, under constant shell fire and things happening all around me that you cannot imagine. I worked at the field hospital as long as it stayed; then we put us up a first-aid station in a dugout and ran it when the booming shells hit all around us, but just missed the door on many occasions. The airplanes around Cuisy did not mix very well; and when we got a little dull we watched them mix it. I saw 75 of ours go over the top on one drove. But on another occasion 350 went in together.
Well when we got relieved here on October 18, I felt like I had come out of a nightmare, and the next two nights I slept in my little tent in the wet woods and the rain and enjoyed it like I never enjoyed sleep before. It was some great, and we got a bath, too. We rested until November 8, when we started up again, and were well up in reserve when the last gun ceased. That night was also a good night---nothing to do but hike. We rested until November 20, and started for the Rhine and arrived at Mullenbach, near Coblenz, December 14. This country has much interesting scenery. And you can bet if they had those hills back there, you would not find a foot not under cultivation in a short time. I see fine vineyards on hillsides so steep it would puzzle a goat to hold his footing.
We came from near Commercy, France, through Lorraine, and Luxemburg, crossing into Germany on December 3, Remich, Lux.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by George Otto Martin of Adona, Arkansas to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George A. E. Martin. Martin was serving in the Eighth Field Signal Battalion, Medical Detachment. He was described as being of medium height and stout build with blue eyes and black hair. He was born November 19, 1891 and died on February 28, 1994. He is buried in the Liberty Cemetery, Adona. His military tombstone identifies him as a Pfc. serving in the Army during WW I.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
We stay at Brest a short time and entrained for the front. We arrived at La Ferte-Sous-Jourre, on the Marne river, just behind the lines, for a period of training. It was there that we swam the Marne, while above us the aircraft fought numerous battles and the roar of cannon continued day and night. It was exciting to lie in your bunk at night while enemy planes flew overhead and the roar at the front rattled the windows and you wondered what it would be like when you were sent up. On July 10 we moved up nearer, and this time huge shells began to whine overhead.
The enemy drive started on the Marne on July 14, and the good old Fourth went over the top on July 18.
We stayed in the fight until August 14, when we were relieved. The battalion was then at Mirueil, just behind the Vesie river, which you read so much about. At this place we worked at a dressing station. The town was almost leveled and was under fire continually. I almost got mine here. A shrapnel shell burst overhead and a piece just missed a stretcher on which two of us were carrying a man. Also the linesome screech and whine of many others made me wish I had been a better boy.
Well, we rested from August 14 to September 8, and then went into support of the St. Mihiel drive, of which you have read. We were on the second line here until the 17th and moved to the Argonne-Meuse front, and on the night of the 26th we were up with the guns when the biggest barrage was put over I ever saw. Our boys went over the top just before daylight, and gathered the harvest. By noon on the 27th, long lines of Boches began flowing to the rear, and on the 28th my bunch went in just west of the Meuse at Cnise, near Mt. Faucon and Septdarges, Cuisy, as well as all the other big and little towns in that section, had been leveled since 1914. The only thing intact in the whole place was the figure of Christ left in the ruins of the church. The towns in that section are all built of stone and mortar.
If you can imagine a town the size of Plainview absolutely shot level to the ground, you may get a small idea of what it looked like. The trees were all blackened, shot away and dead. It was a picture of desolation, and no living thing but us in sight. Hill No. 304 and Dead Man’s hill where the awful fighting in 1914 took place, looks like an immense anthill. You could not put your finger down for acres and acres on those hills without touching a shell hole. That was where I spent September 28 until October 18, under constant shell fire and things happening all around me that you cannot imagine. I worked at the field hospital as long as it stayed; then we put us up a first-aid station in a dugout and ran it when the booming shells hit all around us, but just missed the door on many occasions. The airplanes around Cuisy did not mix very well; and when we got a little dull we watched them mix it. I saw 75 of ours go over the top on one drove. But on another occasion 350 went in together.
Well when we got relieved here on October 18, I felt like I had come out of a nightmare, and the next two nights I slept in my little tent in the wet woods and the rain and enjoyed it like I never enjoyed sleep before. It was some great, and we got a bath, too. We rested until November 8, when we started up again, and were well up in reserve when the last gun ceased. That night was also a good night---nothing to do but hike. We rested until November 20, and started for the Rhine and arrived at Mullenbach, near Coblenz, December 14. This country has much interesting scenery. And you can bet if they had those hills back there, you would not find a foot not under cultivation in a short time. I see fine vineyards on hillsides so steep it would puzzle a goat to hold his footing.
We came from near Commercy, France, through Lorraine, and Luxemburg, crossing into Germany on December 3, Remich, Lux.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by George Otto Martin of Adona, Arkansas to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George A. E. Martin. Martin was serving in the Eighth Field Signal Battalion, Medical Detachment. He was described as being of medium height and stout build with blue eyes and black hair. He was born November 19, 1891 and died on February 28, 1994. He is buried in the Liberty Cemetery, Adona. His military tombstone identifies him as a Pfc. serving in the Army during WW I.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT