TRANSCRIBED FROM THE CLARKSVILLE HERALD DEMOCRAT JULY 17, 1919 P. 1
Paris, France.
April 11, 1919.
Dear Aunt:
I received your letter of March 17th, Saturday and I was very glad to hear from you folks and to know that all of you were well, this leaves me very well except a bad cold.
I went up to Chauteau, Thierry and Bellou Woods yesterday and saw some interesting sights. The town of Chauteau Thierry is a little larger than Clarksville and lies between two hills, the river Marne runs almost through the center of the town. The Marne isn’t much of ariver but a pretty little stream. You don’t see many signs of hard fighting as you go into Chateau Thierry by train, but when you get off at the station and start up town, you see buildings knocked flat and those that are standing are like a sieve from machine gun and riffle bullets and as you come to the river you see the remnants of the old bridge. It has been replaced by a narrow steel structure. The cemetery is just west of Chateau Thierry, or it seemed like west, it was cloudy and raining and I couldn’t tell the directions very well.
Quite a few Americans are buried there and quite a bunch of French people were walking around in the mud and rain placing flowers on the graves. There was several American soldiers there hunting for resting place of their comrades that had fallen in the great tsruggle. I saw some of them kneeling down sobbing like children. One ______________ he had two _______________________ of course it seemed and it was very sad to him as well as lots of others to walk over the ground where their comrades or relatives fell. Hill 201 was the scene of a terrible battle, the ground is torn up and full of shell holes. the ground is covered in some places with pieces of guns and empty and loaded shells, both German French and American. The machine gun nests were very thick and the Americans had to cross a broad open field to take this place.
Bellou Woods is an awful looking place, about nine tenths of the timber is cut down by the shell fire. In this place lots of the dugouts are sand bagged and more comfortable. I saw a brown looking piece of cloth on the ground and I kicked it and uprooted a man’s arm. it was evidently the arm of a German as the cloth looked something like that of a German uniform and I found a shoe with a man’s foot in it. The woods in some places smell very bad from unburied bodies.
I saw a big Bertha, the one that threw shells 71 miles into Paris and it is some gun believe me. A fellow sees guns that are bursted and shot to pieces. I started to picking up souvenirs but had to throw them down as it was awful muddy and hard traveling without a load. Some American civilians were up there getting souvenirs and they didn’t like the looks of things. I left Chateau Thierry about 5 o’clock after walking all the way from Bellou Woods and that is eight kilometers or five miles. I got back in Paris and I think I will stay until it isn’t so muddy before I go out again.
I got a letter today from a fellow in 316 and he said that that they had a banquet the other night and it cost 2,400 Francs or about $400 for the fifty men that are still with the company. I guess they had some feed. I wish that I could have been there but I am having a pretty soft time here in Paris.
Today I took the mail from our depot to the post office and I didn’t get back to work until one o’clock in the afternoon. I had a very nice ride over Paris.
I think I will go to Rheims next Sunday. I don’t know when I will be back home but don’t look for me until you see me coming for it may be several months before I am at home and I may be home in a short time.
Well, I must close. Give love to the rest of the folks and answer soon. I remain,
Your loving nephew,
PVT. JOHN W. WATSON
NOTES: John William Watson was born on April 24, 1897 in Harmony, Johnson County Arkansas and died in Sulphur, Oklahoma on February 17, 1950. He is buried in the Oaklawn Cemetery in Sulphur. He enlisted in the military on May 27, 1918 and was discharged on October 11, 1919. He departed from Brest, France on September 19, 1919 and arrived in Hoboken, NJ on October 2, 1919. He traveled on the George Washington. At the time the private’s residence was in Bristow, Oklahoma.
TRANSCRIBED BY LINDA WATSON
Paris, France.
April 11, 1919.
Dear Aunt:
I received your letter of March 17th, Saturday and I was very glad to hear from you folks and to know that all of you were well, this leaves me very well except a bad cold.
I went up to Chauteau, Thierry and Bellou Woods yesterday and saw some interesting sights. The town of Chauteau Thierry is a little larger than Clarksville and lies between two hills, the river Marne runs almost through the center of the town. The Marne isn’t much of ariver but a pretty little stream. You don’t see many signs of hard fighting as you go into Chateau Thierry by train, but when you get off at the station and start up town, you see buildings knocked flat and those that are standing are like a sieve from machine gun and riffle bullets and as you come to the river you see the remnants of the old bridge. It has been replaced by a narrow steel structure. The cemetery is just west of Chateau Thierry, or it seemed like west, it was cloudy and raining and I couldn’t tell the directions very well.
Quite a few Americans are buried there and quite a bunch of French people were walking around in the mud and rain placing flowers on the graves. There was several American soldiers there hunting for resting place of their comrades that had fallen in the great tsruggle. I saw some of them kneeling down sobbing like children. One ______________ he had two _______________________ of course it seemed and it was very sad to him as well as lots of others to walk over the ground where their comrades or relatives fell. Hill 201 was the scene of a terrible battle, the ground is torn up and full of shell holes. the ground is covered in some places with pieces of guns and empty and loaded shells, both German French and American. The machine gun nests were very thick and the Americans had to cross a broad open field to take this place.
Bellou Woods is an awful looking place, about nine tenths of the timber is cut down by the shell fire. In this place lots of the dugouts are sand bagged and more comfortable. I saw a brown looking piece of cloth on the ground and I kicked it and uprooted a man’s arm. it was evidently the arm of a German as the cloth looked something like that of a German uniform and I found a shoe with a man’s foot in it. The woods in some places smell very bad from unburied bodies.
I saw a big Bertha, the one that threw shells 71 miles into Paris and it is some gun believe me. A fellow sees guns that are bursted and shot to pieces. I started to picking up souvenirs but had to throw them down as it was awful muddy and hard traveling without a load. Some American civilians were up there getting souvenirs and they didn’t like the looks of things. I left Chateau Thierry about 5 o’clock after walking all the way from Bellou Woods and that is eight kilometers or five miles. I got back in Paris and I think I will stay until it isn’t so muddy before I go out again.
I got a letter today from a fellow in 316 and he said that that they had a banquet the other night and it cost 2,400 Francs or about $400 for the fifty men that are still with the company. I guess they had some feed. I wish that I could have been there but I am having a pretty soft time here in Paris.
Today I took the mail from our depot to the post office and I didn’t get back to work until one o’clock in the afternoon. I had a very nice ride over Paris.
I think I will go to Rheims next Sunday. I don’t know when I will be back home but don’t look for me until you see me coming for it may be several months before I am at home and I may be home in a short time.
Well, I must close. Give love to the rest of the folks and answer soon. I remain,
Your loving nephew,
PVT. JOHN W. WATSON
NOTES: John William Watson was born on April 24, 1897 in Harmony, Johnson County Arkansas and died in Sulphur, Oklahoma on February 17, 1950. He is buried in the Oaklawn Cemetery in Sulphur. He enlisted in the military on May 27, 1918 and was discharged on October 11, 1919. He departed from Brest, France on September 19, 1919 and arrived in Hoboken, NJ on October 2, 1919. He traveled on the George Washington. At the time the private’s residence was in Bristow, Oklahoma.
TRANSCRIBED BY LINDA WATSON