TRANSCRIBED FROM THE MENA WEEKLY STAR, OCTOBER 10. 1918 P. 3
Mrs. W. L. Shepherd,
R. F. D. No. 2, Mena.
I am just fine with the exception of a boil on my knee. I was on K. P. yesterday. The kitchen police don’t do a thing but wash dishes and things like that. I am learning to drill very well, but from the way things seem now the war can’t last much longer. I think Turkey and Austria are about to quit. If they do, good-bye Kaiser Bill.
Will tell you something about the country. I thought this was a level country, but it is as hilly as Arkansas.
I wish you could see how the women wash. They get down on their knees and use a brush against a rough rock. All the houses are made of rocks, the dwellings and cowsheds and barns all under one roof. They just work one horse to a wagon, but they pull big loads at that. The crops are oats, barley and wheat, and the queerest of all is the custom of dressing. They wear wooden shoes. I imagine like the people wore in Bible times, but they treat us Americans well.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by John Bunyan Shepherd to his mother. He was born on October 4, 1892 at Mena, Arkansas in Polk County, Arkansas and died on June 12, 1977. He is buried in the Rocky Cemetery at Rocky, Arkansas in Polk County. He enlisted on June 25, 1918 and was discharged on July 3, 1919. He was living in Maple, Oklahoma when he registered for the draft. He was described as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and hair. He served as a Private in Co. D, 55th Infantry, A.E.F.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT.
Mrs. W. L. Shepherd,
R. F. D. No. 2, Mena.
I am just fine with the exception of a boil on my knee. I was on K. P. yesterday. The kitchen police don’t do a thing but wash dishes and things like that. I am learning to drill very well, but from the way things seem now the war can’t last much longer. I think Turkey and Austria are about to quit. If they do, good-bye Kaiser Bill.
Will tell you something about the country. I thought this was a level country, but it is as hilly as Arkansas.
I wish you could see how the women wash. They get down on their knees and use a brush against a rough rock. All the houses are made of rocks, the dwellings and cowsheds and barns all under one roof. They just work one horse to a wagon, but they pull big loads at that. The crops are oats, barley and wheat, and the queerest of all is the custom of dressing. They wear wooden shoes. I imagine like the people wore in Bible times, but they treat us Americans well.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by John Bunyan Shepherd to his mother. He was born on October 4, 1892 at Mena, Arkansas in Polk County, Arkansas and died on June 12, 1977. He is buried in the Rocky Cemetery at Rocky, Arkansas in Polk County. He enlisted on June 25, 1918 and was discharged on July 3, 1919. He was living in Maple, Oklahoma when he registered for the draft. He was described as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and hair. He served as a Private in Co. D, 55th Infantry, A.E.F.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT.