TRANSCRIBED FROM THE DAILY ARKANSAS GAZETTE JUNE 19, 1918 P 13
We are expecting something great from the Yanks, now that they are in the lines.
You people over there must make up your minds to stand some crushing blows. There are thousands of our boys who will never see homeland. This is a cruel, hard, bitter war. It is one of ceaseless fighting.
Men soon break under the strain, and the human wrecks are counted in the hundreds of thousands. We are 4,000 strong here (in the hospital). Each day some come in and others go out. Those who are able to go back to the front; those who are not fit for actual fighting are held in England. Those who can do nothing or are permanent cripples are sent home to Canada.
Many go to the front knowing it will be the end of them. Some do not want to go as they want to see home again. I do not know when I will be called up to face the music again. The boys write to me from France and it makes me anxious to go back with them.
NOTES: A partial letter from John Wesley “Jack” Yoes to his mother Mrs. Mary A. Yoes from an English army hospital. He was born July 24, 1873, Winslow, Washington County, Arkansas and died April 5, 1940, Seaforth, Ontario, Canada. He is buried Collier cemetery, Winslow, Arkansas. He joined the Canadian forces in 1916 and sailed to France in 1917. He was buried in a bomb blast and was in a hospital when he wrote this letter.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
We are expecting something great from the Yanks, now that they are in the lines.
You people over there must make up your minds to stand some crushing blows. There are thousands of our boys who will never see homeland. This is a cruel, hard, bitter war. It is one of ceaseless fighting.
Men soon break under the strain, and the human wrecks are counted in the hundreds of thousands. We are 4,000 strong here (in the hospital). Each day some come in and others go out. Those who are able to go back to the front; those who are not fit for actual fighting are held in England. Those who can do nothing or are permanent cripples are sent home to Canada.
Many go to the front knowing it will be the end of them. Some do not want to go as they want to see home again. I do not know when I will be called up to face the music again. The boys write to me from France and it makes me anxious to go back with them.
NOTES: A partial letter from John Wesley “Jack” Yoes to his mother Mrs. Mary A. Yoes from an English army hospital. He was born July 24, 1873, Winslow, Washington County, Arkansas and died April 5, 1940, Seaforth, Ontario, Canada. He is buried Collier cemetery, Winslow, Arkansas. He joined the Canadian forces in 1916 and sailed to France in 1917. He was buried in a bomb blast and was in a hospital when he wrote this letter.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT