The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1917-12-07
Letters from France

Two Medina mothers have received
letters within the past week from
their sons who are serving their coun-
try in France, extracts from which
the Sentinel is permitted to publish
and which will be found of interest
to all who are desir0us of first-hand
information from the seat Of var
albeit the most desirable information
is invariably eliminated from all let
ters by censor before they ever reach
their destination. The letters are
from Andrew Long, son of Mrs. Mary
K. Long and from Faye Fenton, son
Of Mr.. and Mrs. w. J. Fenton. Both
boys are with the Field Hospital Co.,
No. 13, American Expeditionary For
ces, and were among the first con-
tingents of volunteers to 60 abroad. =
Under date Of Nov. /, Mr.. Long
writes of a long period Of rainy and
cloudy weather and says: ri would
like to know where people get that
phrase Sunny France If the coun-
try deserves the name, I can't see it."
According to the letter, Oct. 20 sig
nailed the first snow storm of the sea-
son over there, and the weather had
been disagreeable for some time pre-
vious.
In another paragraph Mr.. Long
mentions attending religious services
in church built in 1892, where meet
ings are held every night and Of which
many Of the boys of the Annex forces
avail themselves. Naturally of leon
inc proportions, Andrew writes that
he is "getting fat" and one gathers
from his letters that army life agrees
with him.
In the matter Of entertainment, he
says, "there aren't any amusements,
except picture show, run by French
man, showing American pictures, but
the French are crazy over them. The
price of admission is 10 centimes, or
2 cents in u. s. coin.
In another letter under date of Nov.
5, Mr.. Long writes that the weather
had moderated somewhat, "but it is
always wet and muddy, and the fog
over the country seldom lifts, except
in the late afternoon, when we some-
times get glimpse of the good old
sun.
occasionally get glimpse of old
City papers and see articles of soldiers
going to training camps in the states.
They surely are lucky-yet. We have,
of course, had hardships, being the
first over there, but it is surprising
the number of comforts we have that
you would hardly expect"
The following statement from Mr..
Long should be received by mothers
who have sons in the army with much
satisfaction:
"For the life of me I can't see why
all you mothers persist in worrying.
All the fellows in the army are per-
haps safer than they would be in some
large city working, and you wouldn't
think anything of that, would you?
Just because there is big ocean be-
tween makes no difference. We do our
work here just as we would in any
large concern at home"
Mr.. Long writes that no lights are
allowed in camp after dark, hence, un-
Hess he elects to attend church or
picture show, bed is about the. only
other haven, which he says he is in the
habit of putting for at 6 or 7 o'clock.
While in the same company with An
drew Long, Faye Fenton writes that
their respective duties have caused
them to be separated for several
weeks, during which time neither one
saw the other; and both boys report
that they have not seen their other
Medina comrades, Bryan Case and
Glenn Kindig, for some time, al
though the latter were reported safe
and well.
In letter bearing date of Nov. /,
Faye also bemoans the melancholy
weather prevailing in France, but
adds: To-day it is nice, however, and
on every clear night we know that
the Bosch will be over to pay their
compliments with few bombs, so we
turn out to see the fun-if you want
to call it that"
From Faye's letters one may
gather that Medina BARRIERS have it all
over those of the land Of Napoleon
and Lafayette. "For," he writes, 'I