Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1917-09-06
YOUNG SOLDIER
TELLS OF FRANCE
Finds Many Things of Interest Near
the War Zone---Much that Can
not Be Told

w. G. Kirchoffer, of Madison, sani-
tary and hydraulic engineer, and for
! many years resident of Baraboo, has
lreceived two letters from his brother
in-law, E. e. Brownrigg, who had in
turn received them from the writer,
his brother, somewhere in France. Mr..
Browning is in the American ambu-
lance field service. Before going
abroad he was a senior in Cornell Ag-
ricultural college, volunteering in the
Cornell unit
Letter No. 2
"Here / am again, and my intention
is to complete this letter at this sit
ting and get it off to you tonight.
had similar intentions on the fifth, but
was called for meeting while writing
and this is the first opportunity I
have had since then to write you.
am wr ting this under far different cir
cumstances and conditions than those
surrounding me when / wrote the first
letter. In the first place l am seated
on pile of straw under tent "some-
where in France" as a member of T.
NJ %, with address changed to B. G.
NJ, Paris, France.
81 am still in the American Field
Service doing, however, different work
than l had originally planned. On
May g. Mr. Andrew, the head of the
American Field Service, called all the
Cornell men together and outlined
plan which the French government
askd him to adopt AS the United
States is no longer neutral, the Ameri-
can Field Service has been asked to
extent it's activities and supply men
for Transport work at the front as
we'll as for ambulance work. At pres
ent there is great lack of drivers for
the big transport ammunition trucks
"a lack which is not felt in the am
bulance work.
"The plan as presented to us was
for as many men as possible among
those present who could pass the phys
ical examination to volunteer for this
service instead of for the ambulance;
to recruit to forty men and leave at
once for a weeks training at some
point out toward the front. The plan
was adopted and after getting our
equipment together and being passed
on by the doctor, forty of us left Paris
yesterday morning after a most i'm
pressive ceremony. We were given a
banquet Monday night at which AM
bassador Sharp and several high-up
French officers addressed us with stir
ring speeches. Yesterday morning we
were inspected under arms and passed
in review with tn Stars and Stripes
waving in our midst.
edo not be alarmed at this change.
The work is not more dangerous than
ambulance work, but is more to my
liking. 1t is belligerent service, and
as the United States is no longer neu-
tral, and as I am praying that she will
send her boys and soon fight in a most
worthy cause, l could see no reason
why I should now be doing work
which is being carried on largely by
neutrals. The same organization is
handling this new service as is ham
ding the ambulance. This is merely
new branch-a new activity Of the
Field Service. Our unit is the first
unit in this service and the first or
ganiZation of Americans to go into
belligerent service in France since
war was declared by the United States.
eve left Paris for -------- yester-
day morning after a fine send-off, glad
for the change, and arrived here in
the afternoon, We spent the after
noon and evening pitching camp and
getting organized and turned in early
in order to be up early in the morn
ing. The camp is in beautiful little
valley just below pretty though
humble French town. We have three
tents, an officers tent, and two kitchen
wagons and an office wagon. This
morning we had another ceremony
conducted by French captain and a
large band, at which the American and
French flags were formally raised over
the camp.
eve will be here week learning
how to drive the big five-ton Pierce
Arrow military trucks, after which
time we will be sent into active serv-
ice at the front There will be twenty
trucks travelling in convoy, two men
to a machine each driving half the
time and assisting on the road the 9TH
er half. We begin the work tomorrow
and later I will be able to tell you
more in detail just what we have to
do. There will be much that / cannot
tell until / see you again. Our orders
are very strict on this point, and
places and incidents will have to be-
left out of my letter. I'll keep
diary however, and will have much TO
tell you when I see you again. am
in the best of health, and am getting
great deal out of this experiences"