TRANSCRIBED FROM THE POCAHONTAS STAR HERALD DECEMBER 14, 1917 P. 10
Camp Beauregard,
Dec. 5, 1917.
Editor Star Herald:
I thought possibly some of my old time friends might want to hear a word from me, so I thought I would write them a few lines through the “Old Reliable.”
I am at Camp Beauregard, seven miles out from Alexandria, La. Alexandria is a pretty little southern city of 18,000 or 20,000 people, but it taxes her capacity to take care of this big camp of American fighting men. I am still in the medical corps and am attached to the 114th Regiment Engineer, - temporarily. This 39th Division is composed of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi men, mostly National Guardsmen. Our old First Arkansas Infantry is now the 153rd U.S. Infantry; the old Second now the 142nd U.S. Field Artillery, and the new 3rd Arkansas is the 154th U.S. Infantry.
My son, Ewing, joined the U.S. Navy July 2nd, the day he was 18 years old, the very first day he could get in. He was sent to the naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Ill., and remained there until Nov. 15th when he took the competitive examination for the Radio (wireless telegraphy) School and passed it, whereupon he was sent to Harvard University Radio School at Cambridge, Mass. He is in school there now.
I found all my friends in the service here doing good work and ready, anxious and willing to help battle to make the “world safe for Democracy.” To all my friends in good old Randolph, I send my very best wishes and want to day “God bless and keep you.” When the long, cruel struggle is over and we have won the fight for God and the Right, I hope to come back to home, friends and loved ones and spend my remaining days in good old Arkansas, the land that gave me birth.
Sincerely your friend,
Horace E. Ruff
NOTES: At the time of this letter Ruff held the rank of Major. Dr. Horace Ewing Ruff was born at Pitman in Randolph County on July 15, 1873 and died in Magnolia, Arkansas on July 3, 1968. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Pocahontas, Arkansas. Before the war he served a single term in the Arkansas General Assembly in both the House and Senate. He was Chairman of the Randolph County Democratic Central Committee. Upon entering the service he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the Arkansas National Guard. He served on the Mexican Border. During World War 1 he was a surgeon with the 7th Infantry in the 3rd Division. He was wounded and gassed on October 21, 1918. He was recommended for the Distinguished Cross. He received a Purple Heart and Silver Star. After the war he served as a general medical examiner for the Veterans Bureau in Little Rock, Arkansas.
TRANSCRIBED BY SHANNON SOUTHARD
Camp Beauregard,
Dec. 5, 1917.
Editor Star Herald:
I thought possibly some of my old time friends might want to hear a word from me, so I thought I would write them a few lines through the “Old Reliable.”
I am at Camp Beauregard, seven miles out from Alexandria, La. Alexandria is a pretty little southern city of 18,000 or 20,000 people, but it taxes her capacity to take care of this big camp of American fighting men. I am still in the medical corps and am attached to the 114th Regiment Engineer, - temporarily. This 39th Division is composed of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi men, mostly National Guardsmen. Our old First Arkansas Infantry is now the 153rd U.S. Infantry; the old Second now the 142nd U.S. Field Artillery, and the new 3rd Arkansas is the 154th U.S. Infantry.
My son, Ewing, joined the U.S. Navy July 2nd, the day he was 18 years old, the very first day he could get in. He was sent to the naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Ill., and remained there until Nov. 15th when he took the competitive examination for the Radio (wireless telegraphy) School and passed it, whereupon he was sent to Harvard University Radio School at Cambridge, Mass. He is in school there now.
I found all my friends in the service here doing good work and ready, anxious and willing to help battle to make the “world safe for Democracy.” To all my friends in good old Randolph, I send my very best wishes and want to day “God bless and keep you.” When the long, cruel struggle is over and we have won the fight for God and the Right, I hope to come back to home, friends and loved ones and spend my remaining days in good old Arkansas, the land that gave me birth.
Sincerely your friend,
Horace E. Ruff
NOTES: At the time of this letter Ruff held the rank of Major. Dr. Horace Ewing Ruff was born at Pitman in Randolph County on July 15, 1873 and died in Magnolia, Arkansas on July 3, 1968. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Pocahontas, Arkansas. Before the war he served a single term in the Arkansas General Assembly in both the House and Senate. He was Chairman of the Randolph County Democratic Central Committee. Upon entering the service he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the Arkansas National Guard. He served on the Mexican Border. During World War 1 he was a surgeon with the 7th Infantry in the 3rd Division. He was wounded and gassed on October 21, 1918. He was recommended for the Distinguished Cross. He received a Purple Heart and Silver Star. After the war he served as a general medical examiner for the Veterans Bureau in Little Rock, Arkansas.
TRANSCRIBED BY SHANNON SOUTHARD