The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-08-28
Soldiers letters
SOUTH DAKOTA BOYS WRITE
HOME FROM THE WAR
FRONT IN FRANCE.

Pierre, Aug. 2S.-South Dakota
youths are serving with Americas
fighting forces overseas and the past
few days letters have been received
in various parts of the state telling
of their experiences on the battle
front of the struggle in Europe.
Other letters have come from boys
stationed at the great training camps
i'm this country, telling of their drill
ing and their anxiety to see active
service abroad.
One OF the interesting letters came
from Willard Mclaughlin, well
known at Parker, from st. Raphael,
France. where he is a member of the
First aeronautic department of the
navy. st. Raphael is on the Mediter-
ranean sea, in the foothills of the
Alps. Mclaughlin tells of the death
OF one pilot in the department the
week previous from an accidental
nose dive.
1T seems as though the Supreme
Being would interfere in the war"
saws his letter, "for all of the Ger
mans ought to be killed. They are
not human beings at all, but educat-
ed animals that have 10 thought only
to kill innocent women and children.
| would be perfectly willing TO die IL
could get two or three Germans TO
my credit" The letter closes with a
mention of the landing of 20. goo
more Americans at St. Razaire. the
same place he landed.
One of the most striking letters
which have come to the state from a
South Dakota boy at the front is from
William b. Gemmill, of Canton. who
is In France as a member of the am
bulance service. enlisting from Chi
cago. where he was a sophomore at
the University of Chicago. The
members OF his section were award
ed the croix de guerre for valor on
the field.
The division hat we are with is
badly shot up" says the letter from
Gemmill. There were 900 either
killed. wounded or taken prisoner in
the attack of July IA. but the boches
did not gain a foot by it. A regiment
of chausseurs arrived here yesterday.
They are a rough and ready lot. One
of them was a waiter in the Univer-
sity club i'm Chicago before the war
and says he is anxious to go back
there.
Yesterday | carried a wounded
German prisoner. He was a boy II
years old. He had been lying in no
mans land since July IA. four days,
When Germany sends in the l7-year-
olds it looks like she is almost
through. On July 13 we We're sent
- - a. .o,o,l lsnn trA.SnhAG on q
4S-hour shift. AS soon as VT would
get our loads of wounded soldiers we
would speed the car as fast as pos
sible and run the gauntlet through
machine gun fire and boche shells
for three-quarters of a mile. Al
ready | have IA pieces of shrapnel In
, the side of the car. four bullet holes
! clear through it and the skylight in
the roof is broken out. Believe me
| II is exciting and scarey."
Or. Ben Alton writes from some
where in Belgium" to his sister, Miss
! Beulah Alton, of Bookings. His let
ter was deleted in several places
where he had given locations. Ht
describes the country as beautiful, a:
yet untouched by the ravages of war
his b1dIi. III vi loUi Il HIS pa
of the front, consists of a surgeon, al
an%esthetist, a nurse and an orderly
working in four shifts of IL hours
each. The night before the letter
was written DR.. Alton had begun op
Grating at s o'clock and finished a
5 in the morning.
we can see air raids continually
: while operating" said DR.. Alton,
( letter. 1.-THE air is filled with planes
} and observation balloons. Las
evening there was an air attack di
rectly above the theater. You woulC
t enjoy hearing the bombardments
) which are continuous day and night
Yesterday l watched the Smelling O
| a Belgian town. Very fascinating.
Glenn Walker, of Sioux Falls. for
| merly a member of Company b
Fourth South Dakota infantry, /.
now serving with the mechanical
transport section of the Canadian
army service corps. John b. Green