TRANSCRIBED FROM THE LITTLE RIVER NEWS JUNE 30, 1917 P. 2
Dear Aunt:
We have nothing to do this morning so I will get to write you and let you know about the lay of things here. We left Little Rock on Friday afternoon and reached Memphis at 7 p.m. We had sleepers and each fellow had a separate berth, so we had plenty of room. They served our meals to us on the train and plenty of it.
I have often heard of the red hills of Alabama and Georgia, but this was the first time I had seen them. I never saw such a poor looking country. It looked just about like the country around Peytonville. I think that they can’t compare to Arkansas. We reached the coast on Sunday about 10 a.m. and then had to take a boat across the bay and Hampton Roads for about 13 miles, arriving at the Fort here about 1 m.. We had our dinner and got our beds fixed up and had the rest af the afternoon to look around.
This is a beautiful place, nice building, shade trees, shrubbery flowers, etc. but we are entirely surrounded by water and the nearest town of any size is New Port News, ten miles away. Norfork is about the same distance. Probably we can get to go over to these places on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
We are well situated here a regular house for bivouacks a three story brick building. We have regular beds, water in the halls and plenty of hot and cold water for baths.
I don’t know just what will be the nature of the work but I am sure that I am going to like the work. I imagine that we will have more real studying here than we had at Fort Roots.
They have some big guns which we will have to learn how to operate but I think it will be more interesting than the small guns which I have been used to.
I have several friends here who came along and this makes it nice until we get acquainted. We are put in companies here just as we were at Fort Roots. There will be 1400 of us here.
We have plenty of salty sea breeze and it goes pretty well too. This looks more like a Fort than Fort Roots did and there are more sailors and soldiers and the sailors are from ships that are stationed out in the bay. There are three or four battleships in Hampton Roads now, one English ship. Some of his majesty’s sailors were ashore yesterday.
Will close for this time hoping that you are getting alone nicely.
Yours,
Jake.
Fortress Monroe, Va.
NOTES: Jake Ormand Rhyne was born on September 5, 1891 at Ben Lomond in Sevier County Arkansas and died on January 25, 1967. He is buried in the Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia. His military headstone identifies him as an Arkansas First Lieutenant 29th Artillery CAC during World War I. He was writing to his Aunt Martha Clifton of Ashdown from Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
TRANSCRIBED BY MIKE POLSTON
Dear Aunt:
We have nothing to do this morning so I will get to write you and let you know about the lay of things here. We left Little Rock on Friday afternoon and reached Memphis at 7 p.m. We had sleepers and each fellow had a separate berth, so we had plenty of room. They served our meals to us on the train and plenty of it.
I have often heard of the red hills of Alabama and Georgia, but this was the first time I had seen them. I never saw such a poor looking country. It looked just about like the country around Peytonville. I think that they can’t compare to Arkansas. We reached the coast on Sunday about 10 a.m. and then had to take a boat across the bay and Hampton Roads for about 13 miles, arriving at the Fort here about 1 m.. We had our dinner and got our beds fixed up and had the rest af the afternoon to look around.
This is a beautiful place, nice building, shade trees, shrubbery flowers, etc. but we are entirely surrounded by water and the nearest town of any size is New Port News, ten miles away. Norfork is about the same distance. Probably we can get to go over to these places on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
We are well situated here a regular house for bivouacks a three story brick building. We have regular beds, water in the halls and plenty of hot and cold water for baths.
I don’t know just what will be the nature of the work but I am sure that I am going to like the work. I imagine that we will have more real studying here than we had at Fort Roots.
They have some big guns which we will have to learn how to operate but I think it will be more interesting than the small guns which I have been used to.
I have several friends here who came along and this makes it nice until we get acquainted. We are put in companies here just as we were at Fort Roots. There will be 1400 of us here.
We have plenty of salty sea breeze and it goes pretty well too. This looks more like a Fort than Fort Roots did and there are more sailors and soldiers and the sailors are from ships that are stationed out in the bay. There are three or four battleships in Hampton Roads now, one English ship. Some of his majesty’s sailors were ashore yesterday.
Will close for this time hoping that you are getting alone nicely.
Yours,
Jake.
Fortress Monroe, Va.
NOTES: Jake Ormand Rhyne was born on September 5, 1891 at Ben Lomond in Sevier County Arkansas and died on January 25, 1967. He is buried in the Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia. His military headstone identifies him as an Arkansas First Lieutenant 29th Artillery CAC during World War I. He was writing to his Aunt Martha Clifton of Ashdown from Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
TRANSCRIBED BY MIKE POLSTON