TRANSCRIBED FROM THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT OCTOBER 28, 1918 P. 3
Dearest Mother,
Your letter of the 19th received last night. I’ll say it looked pretty good to me.
Gee whiz, you flatter me too much. What I’ve done isn’t any greater than a big bunch of other American boys have done. There are some, of course, who have slacked, but we fellows over here feel sorry for them for being as yellow as they are and fight harder to try to fill their “blank files.”
After all is said and done, it isn’t the boys over here who are the heroes. It is the mothers back home who gave us to the service and who, even though their hearts are breaking, always write the most cheering letters imaginable to try and make good soldiers out of these sons. By the way, it has the desired effect on the men. I’ve paid particular attention to my men as regards to their letters. When they receive a letter that is rather blue, it’s almost impossible to get any work out of them. They go around with their heads dropped and look like the “last rose of summer.” It’s just the opposite when a cheerful letter is received.
The town we are in has been held by “Brother Fritz,” but for one of several reasons he “has went.” The people are returning to the town and are taking up where they left off. The people we are billeting with have been here during the entire war and were even here during the Boche’s stay.
When we first came into this town there were signs printed in German on the posts and helmets and other German articles were all over town. He had laid down a lot of traps for us such as attaching a string to a helmet or rifle. When you picked up the souvenir, the string would explode a charge of powder or a shell. We found an old German paper and it stated that in the month of July they sunk 400,000 tons of cargo and 580, 000 American troops. We all laughed ourselves sick over it as we all know that not over 500 American soldiers have lost their lives on the sea.
After a little fight the other day we found one little German shot through and through. He couldn’t have been over 16 or 17 years of age. He has a big bunch of such young fellows. Among some of the prisoners we captured the average was about 17. One old boy looked to be about 40. He was angry about it. The rest seemed to be really glad to be captured. You feel like giving those little fellows a spanking rather than shooting them.
NOTES: Lieut. Charles O. Richards was writing to his mother, Mrs. G. F. Richards of Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended school in Little Rock, but he enlisted in Tennessee. He served with the 120th Infantry 30th Division, also known as the “Wildcat Division.” He was promoted from private to second lieutenant in five months. He was one of 14 officers of the division picked to sail ahead of the division for special training. He was born on August 19, 1893 in Memphis, Tennessee and died on March 28, 1951 in Memphis. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Memphis. He was described as being of medium height and slender with brown eyes and dark brown hair.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
Dearest Mother,
Your letter of the 19th received last night. I’ll say it looked pretty good to me.
Gee whiz, you flatter me too much. What I’ve done isn’t any greater than a big bunch of other American boys have done. There are some, of course, who have slacked, but we fellows over here feel sorry for them for being as yellow as they are and fight harder to try to fill their “blank files.”
After all is said and done, it isn’t the boys over here who are the heroes. It is the mothers back home who gave us to the service and who, even though their hearts are breaking, always write the most cheering letters imaginable to try and make good soldiers out of these sons. By the way, it has the desired effect on the men. I’ve paid particular attention to my men as regards to their letters. When they receive a letter that is rather blue, it’s almost impossible to get any work out of them. They go around with their heads dropped and look like the “last rose of summer.” It’s just the opposite when a cheerful letter is received.
The town we are in has been held by “Brother Fritz,” but for one of several reasons he “has went.” The people are returning to the town and are taking up where they left off. The people we are billeting with have been here during the entire war and were even here during the Boche’s stay.
When we first came into this town there were signs printed in German on the posts and helmets and other German articles were all over town. He had laid down a lot of traps for us such as attaching a string to a helmet or rifle. When you picked up the souvenir, the string would explode a charge of powder or a shell. We found an old German paper and it stated that in the month of July they sunk 400,000 tons of cargo and 580, 000 American troops. We all laughed ourselves sick over it as we all know that not over 500 American soldiers have lost their lives on the sea.
After a little fight the other day we found one little German shot through and through. He couldn’t have been over 16 or 17 years of age. He has a big bunch of such young fellows. Among some of the prisoners we captured the average was about 17. One old boy looked to be about 40. He was angry about it. The rest seemed to be really glad to be captured. You feel like giving those little fellows a spanking rather than shooting them.
NOTES: Lieut. Charles O. Richards was writing to his mother, Mrs. G. F. Richards of Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended school in Little Rock, but he enlisted in Tennessee. He served with the 120th Infantry 30th Division, also known as the “Wildcat Division.” He was promoted from private to second lieutenant in five months. He was one of 14 officers of the division picked to sail ahead of the division for special training. He was born on August 19, 1893 in Memphis, Tennessee and died on March 28, 1951 in Memphis. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Memphis. He was described as being of medium height and slender with brown eyes and dark brown hair.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT