TRANSCRIBED FROM THE SPRINGDALE NEWS SEPTEMBER 9, 1918 P. 8
Dear cousins:
I will try and write you a few lines this afternoon in answer to your letter I received today. I am just faring fine, don't believe I could be enjoying life better, only I am a little lonesome this afternoon. Nearly all the boys have gone to town. I thought I would stay in the fort and write some letters. It sure is a treat for me to get a letter and I always answer it as soon as I get time.
I can tell you, it means something to be a soldier. Anyone can be in the army and not be a soldier. To make a good soldier anyone has to go into it with a heart.
I am in the cavalry. The cavalry is the highest branch of service there is. You ought to see my horse. He sure is fine. The government doesn't seem to care for money when it comes to buying horses. We have got the best horses that money can buy and you can guess we have got some good ones. I believe I have got next to the best horse in the troop. The captain has the best horse and I come next. My horse is as smart a horse as I ever saw. I can learn him to do anything but talk and he tries that sometimes. When he hears me call him he will come as hard as he can run and will follow me anywhere, but he gets angry sometimes when we are drilling and I have to treat him rough. We train our horses to jump so when the time comes for us to fight, fences won't bother us. My captain says he believes my horse could jump the moon if he got the chance.
You said you had to be vaccinated before you started to school. A vaccination isn't bad. I have had about a dozen since I enlisted, one about every week, but I won't get any more for a year.
I would like to see all you folks and go to the picnic at Goshen but wishing doesn't do any good, as you know. You spoke of the picnic being for the Red Cross. Well, I want to say a few words about the Red Cross. Until I got in the army I never thought much about the Red Cross, but it wouldn't be safe now for me to hear anyone say anything against the Red Cross for I would hit them so hard they would never look like anything. The Red Cross sure is helping us boys, and everything we get, except a very few things comes through the Red Cross.
You said you saw the boys who are training at the University. You ought to be here and see this fort when we are drilling. There are twenty-two hundred men here. We drill horse back mornings and on foot afternoons and what I mean is, we are busy all day. When I run out of a job I clean my guns and then I can't keep them clean. The captain will inspect our guns and then he will tell us a little more work wouldn't hurt them.
If I get to go to France, which I will if the war goes on, I will do my best to get the Kaiser, but from the way the boys are after him now I guess we will have to hurry if we get there in time to take a hand. I can tell you, if I ever get after a German he sure will be a goner. The Germans are dreading the Americans. I don't think the war will soon be over. I would like to see it close. It would be a good thing for the world, but if it goes on I hope I soon will get into it.
Well, I will close for this time. Answer soon.
From your cousin,
Robert A. Oxford.
NOTES: Oxford was writing to his cousins, Della and Artie Oxford of Habberton, Arkansas while stationed at Ft. David Allen Russell, Wyo.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD
Dear cousins:
I will try and write you a few lines this afternoon in answer to your letter I received today. I am just faring fine, don't believe I could be enjoying life better, only I am a little lonesome this afternoon. Nearly all the boys have gone to town. I thought I would stay in the fort and write some letters. It sure is a treat for me to get a letter and I always answer it as soon as I get time.
I can tell you, it means something to be a soldier. Anyone can be in the army and not be a soldier. To make a good soldier anyone has to go into it with a heart.
I am in the cavalry. The cavalry is the highest branch of service there is. You ought to see my horse. He sure is fine. The government doesn't seem to care for money when it comes to buying horses. We have got the best horses that money can buy and you can guess we have got some good ones. I believe I have got next to the best horse in the troop. The captain has the best horse and I come next. My horse is as smart a horse as I ever saw. I can learn him to do anything but talk and he tries that sometimes. When he hears me call him he will come as hard as he can run and will follow me anywhere, but he gets angry sometimes when we are drilling and I have to treat him rough. We train our horses to jump so when the time comes for us to fight, fences won't bother us. My captain says he believes my horse could jump the moon if he got the chance.
You said you had to be vaccinated before you started to school. A vaccination isn't bad. I have had about a dozen since I enlisted, one about every week, but I won't get any more for a year.
I would like to see all you folks and go to the picnic at Goshen but wishing doesn't do any good, as you know. You spoke of the picnic being for the Red Cross. Well, I want to say a few words about the Red Cross. Until I got in the army I never thought much about the Red Cross, but it wouldn't be safe now for me to hear anyone say anything against the Red Cross for I would hit them so hard they would never look like anything. The Red Cross sure is helping us boys, and everything we get, except a very few things comes through the Red Cross.
You said you saw the boys who are training at the University. You ought to be here and see this fort when we are drilling. There are twenty-two hundred men here. We drill horse back mornings and on foot afternoons and what I mean is, we are busy all day. When I run out of a job I clean my guns and then I can't keep them clean. The captain will inspect our guns and then he will tell us a little more work wouldn't hurt them.
If I get to go to France, which I will if the war goes on, I will do my best to get the Kaiser, but from the way the boys are after him now I guess we will have to hurry if we get there in time to take a hand. I can tell you, if I ever get after a German he sure will be a goner. The Germans are dreading the Americans. I don't think the war will soon be over. I would like to see it close. It would be a good thing for the world, but if it goes on I hope I soon will get into it.
Well, I will close for this time. Answer soon.
From your cousin,
Robert A. Oxford.
NOTES: Oxford was writing to his cousins, Della and Artie Oxford of Habberton, Arkansas while stationed at Ft. David Allen Russell, Wyo.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD