TRANSCRIBED FROM THE MENA WEEKLY STAR JUNE 20, 1918 P. 8
Camp Pike, Ark. June 16, 1918.
Dear Editor:
I hasten to extend to you my best wishes and my heartfelt thanks to the citizens of Mena for the little gifts presented to we boys on the eve of our departure to the training camp. It grieved us to the bottom of our hearts to separate from our dear father and angelic mother, and our dear friends, but after all, it is a consolation to us, realizing the mission that we are being trained to fill. If you could look upon the many, red-faced stalwart youths that are training in Camp Pike, and the thousands that are ready to go “over there,” you would feel a sense of satisfaction, that It would not take many such men to cope with the Huns and drive autocracy out of existence.
The Y. M. C. A. certainly is grand. We attend the Y. M. C. A. nearly every night. It sure is a great help to the soldier boys. We have already learned to love its workers, as they are intelligent men and have proven to us that they are here to serve us and not for a show.
We have experienced some drilling; have had our clothes issued to us and are learning to be real “Sammies.”
It is indeed a pleasure unequaled to reflect back only a few weeks when I had the privilege of shaking hands with my friends and attending the decoration. Let me say to you, my friends, that I shall remember you with pleasant thoughts, and hope that when I return the kaiser will have been beaten and the Stars and Stripes planted on the capital of Germany, and find you with smiles of joy and settle again among the same good people whom I left. Kindest regards to all.
Lloyd W. Shipp,
Co. H. 347 Inf., Camp Pike, Ark.
NOTES: Lloyd Wilden Shipp (his name is Loyd on his headstone) was born on December 4, 1895 in Georgia and died on June 23, 1933. He is buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery, Fayetteville, Ark. His gravestone lists him as an ARKANSAS, CORPL 150 INF 16 DIV (very hard to read.) He was described as being short and of medium build with gray eyes and light hair.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT.
Camp Pike, Ark. June 16, 1918.
Dear Editor:
I hasten to extend to you my best wishes and my heartfelt thanks to the citizens of Mena for the little gifts presented to we boys on the eve of our departure to the training camp. It grieved us to the bottom of our hearts to separate from our dear father and angelic mother, and our dear friends, but after all, it is a consolation to us, realizing the mission that we are being trained to fill. If you could look upon the many, red-faced stalwart youths that are training in Camp Pike, and the thousands that are ready to go “over there,” you would feel a sense of satisfaction, that It would not take many such men to cope with the Huns and drive autocracy out of existence.
The Y. M. C. A. certainly is grand. We attend the Y. M. C. A. nearly every night. It sure is a great help to the soldier boys. We have already learned to love its workers, as they are intelligent men and have proven to us that they are here to serve us and not for a show.
We have experienced some drilling; have had our clothes issued to us and are learning to be real “Sammies.”
It is indeed a pleasure unequaled to reflect back only a few weeks when I had the privilege of shaking hands with my friends and attending the decoration. Let me say to you, my friends, that I shall remember you with pleasant thoughts, and hope that when I return the kaiser will have been beaten and the Stars and Stripes planted on the capital of Germany, and find you with smiles of joy and settle again among the same good people whom I left. Kindest regards to all.
Lloyd W. Shipp,
Co. H. 347 Inf., Camp Pike, Ark.
NOTES: Lloyd Wilden Shipp (his name is Loyd on his headstone) was born on December 4, 1895 in Georgia and died on June 23, 1933. He is buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery, Fayetteville, Ark. His gravestone lists him as an ARKANSAS, CORPL 150 INF 16 DIV (very hard to read.) He was described as being short and of medium build with gray eyes and light hair.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT.