Macon beacon., 1917-08-03
Allentown, Pa, July 26, 1917.

Allentown, Pa, July 26, 1917.
Editor Of The Beacon
have been told several times that
my friends at home were all asking
about me, and acting on the suggestion
of one or two, / have decided to tell
you little about our camp here, our
work. etc. AS we are so far from
home and very few of the boys are
known in that part of the country, it
may not interest many of you.
Just at present we have about five
thousand men here in camp, from every
section of the country, and great
many foreigners. We are encamped
at the Lehigh County Fair Grounds,
our section being quartered in the cool
ing stables along tie race track, the
choice place of the camp. Some of the
sections are in the hog pens, some il.
the grand stand, some in stables, and
others in tents with wooden floors
We are all very well situated, the sani-
tary conditions being excellent. Very
few cases of sickness have been heard
Of around here, fact which is very re-
markable, considering the great num-
Der of men in camp.
The greater part of the men are COL
lege graduates and undergraduate
though, of course, all the men enlisted
in the ambulance corps are sent here
for training. The city of Pasadena,
Cal, has sent several sections, among
whom are several milionaires. Of
course, New York and PHILADELPHIA
have several sections, more than any
other one city. Harvard, Princeton,
Virginia, Columbia, Florida, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, Indiana,
Minnesota, Sewanee, and dozens of
other universities are represented.
The people here are the most hospi-
table I've ever seen. We soldiers get
hearty welcome everywhere, and no
boy who goes to church anywhere Sun
day has to come back to camp for din
ner, The prominent men of the town
have formed "big brother" society.
Each section in camp has two of them
to see that they have a good time and
meet the people. We are invited out
once or twice week and frequently
take automobile rides with them.
The work of the ambulance men may
seem "cinch" to anyone who does
not understand just what it is. Of
course, we do not have to stay in the
trenches, as the infantryman does, but
the litter bearers, who carry the
wounded to the rear, have to work un-
der fire, administering first sid before
moving them, We are all trained for
this work, as we may be called on to
do it. The ambuiances run between
the last trench and the field hospital
and between the field hospital and the
base hospital. Most of this driving is
done at night. along roads exposed to
shell fire. There is danger of falling
into shell hole, even if the shell does
not actually strike the machine.
Col. Roosevelt, in one of his speeches,
spoke of the men in this service as
"trench-hoppers and slackers." Col.
Persons, who has charge of the camp
here, denied this, and reminded Col.
Roosevelt that the casualties in this
branch of service had thus far exceeded
the number of casualties in any other
branch but the field artillery and the
aviation corps. He also said that the
ambulance men would frequently be on
duty for from forty-eight to seventy
two hours continuously.
have been detailed for the last week
to the ambulance body assembling de-
to learn the work. | am
now one of the ten leaders" and |
will have charge of the body assembling
IN our section in France. One day this
week a French officer was here, and
we had to assemble twenty cars in less
than thrty-six hours, when it had
aiken two weeks to assemble the first
,wenty. This is rather new work for
ne, though it isn't so hard to learn.
The new ambulances we have are
.urned out by Ford, the body and the
'hassis They are very light. and
.hnk I'd prefer dying on the field to
ylng on the floor of one of them for
any distance. The sides of the bodies
ire of heavy pasteboard on wooden
frame. One of the officers remarked
hat they could get all the men they
needed, but not ambulances, so, sup
pose, this explains the adoption of this
ype of ambulance. If shell hits one.
hey won't lose much.
Well, our time has come. Our SER
yeant was notified today that we are
% leave Tuesday. suppose we will
'ail in few days, possibly before this
$ printed. We are all anxious to leave.
hough, I'm sure, not one of us realizes
what is before us. So far, it has really
seemed like pleasure trip. But we
ire all in it to play the game to a finish .
md think every nan in OUR sectinn