The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-10-26
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LETTER OF ]. H. BAKER
Describesthe Granting Medals
To Those Performing Meri-
t0ri0us Service

t0ri0us Service
From Saturdays Daily.
Mrs. James H. Baker is in receipt
of the following letter from her son
J. H. Baker, who is serving with an
ambulance corps in France:
With S. S. u. so. Somewhere in
France September "a, 1917.-As we are
to move up to the front again in the
morning. most of us are Selling upon
this opportunity to write a few letters
home, Once up at the front. one has
little time for letters; it's a strenuous
caught whenever possible. I've slept in
all sorts and seemingly impossible plac-
es and while Won may not believe it. 7
have found my steel helmet an excel
knack of properly adjusting it on the
back of the head, it's very comforta BILE
and, more than this, affords perhaps a
false sense of protection against the an
in dugouts. Thus far. I've been more
fortunate in this respect than some of
the men. One can tame f1eas, you know,
and they make jolly little pets to carry
about in ones clothing.
The section to which we are going is
reported as very quiet with practically
no fighting. After a twenty-five day rest
following the Verdun attack, we are
ready and eager for another "go,'' but
we shall not complain should this prove
incorrect Verdun gave us our fill of big
league fighting. Ed and 1 in old No. 13
with two other cars, move in the morn
go up the following day. Our friends
left today so that when we arrive at our
advanced posts, the good old pals of
Yerdun will be there to welcome us.
a of
hearted fellows who. now that we have
been under fire with them and are at
tached to their division, accept us as
comrades in the full meaning of the
term.
Yesterday was one of the red-letter
days in the annals of Section so, seven of
our number being decorated with the
work last month at Verdun. In the alb
sence of the general commanding this
division the medecin divisionaire pre-
sented the medals. This man is the
chief medical officer of the division and
it was he who recommended these men
for citation by his superior officer.
Our cars We're; parked to form a right
angle and we, were lined up in front of
them, the ordinary fellows on the right,
the honor, men in the center and the
French detachment on the left. After
inspection, the medecin divisionaire call
and as the individual stepped forward
read the citation and then, Gin the
name of the president of the republic
pinned on the war cross.
The usual kiss on either cheek which
accompanies each presentation was
omitted yesterday We men in the back
ground were disappointed at this be-
cause for days We had been plaguing
our comrades on this point and had them
all shaved and powdered like a lounge
lizard for the kisses.
These men. you will recall, were Fred
Singer, our chief, Paul Hughes, our sons
ENr.ao Narlfn of lie md
Halvorson. Colledge, Woodall and Arm
strong. l wrote you about the work for
which they were cited.
Following the ceremony there was a
special dinner of roast gooSe-nOt to
mention champagne-in honor of the
men. The remainder of the evening was
slightly hilarious.
During our ''repose" most of the cars
have been painted and all over hauled.
Ours was badly in need of new parts as
the heavy loads and the continued run
ming in low gear had done no little dam
age. Did 1 write you that Ed and 1
had car number 10? He asserts that it
is his lucky number and after what we
went through at Verdun, I'm going to
say the same For us, thirteen seeming
ly is indicative of good fortune, even
though it's last driver was killed and the
old bus has seventy seven shrapnel holes
as souvenirs of the Somme front. We
were hit only four times and only once
while in the car, making eighty one
holes in the sturdy brute.
Aside from pranks. life has been dull
in camps. There have been some clever
things pulled as practical jokes on mem
bers of the section. One night Ed start
ed a young panic by pulling concealed
string attached to suspended tin can
loaded with stones. The fellows in the
dormitory jumped out of bed armed with
searchlights and bayonets but did not
discover the culprit. Ed and 1 were
blamed but we established some alibis.
Some poliu Hso have brought in brass
hammered on them, mighty clever stuff
for vases I'd like to bring home a pair
but they are very bulky and it may not
be possible.
AS yet, none of your packages have
arrived and I'm not at all confident that
they ever will. Mail is coming through
in good time-how did you get the idea
it wasn't.
Nothing new has developed regarding
the taking over of the corps by the ar
my and indications point our remaining
IN this service for the period of our en-
listments. Some of the men have OBJ
tanned their discharges to enter the avi-
ators and one has received a commission
In the engineering corps The rest of us
are sitting tight waiting, developments.
Meanwhile, the proper address is as 1
wrote, par B. c. NJ Il rue Pincl, Paris.
Mother, can't you send some maya
zines and papers? Our small stock of
reading matter has been read and re-
read until it's no longer serviceable and
most of us can repeat huge portions from
memory. Also. please ask your friends
to send magazines to the American SOL
dlers over here. Remember that they
are men and their interests are the same
as before the war. In other words they
will not care for old magazines which
they probably have seen, nor so-called
Sunday school stuff. Current magazines
and pictorial sections of Sunday papers
are best and remember that the work
cannot be overdone; there are thousands
of soldiers. Outside of Paris it is i'm
possible to get American or English pa
pers or magazines and this is painfully
patent, as one gets nearer the front. We
are glad to get copy of the Paris
edition of The Herald regardless of its
age, and manage to translate enough of
the French papers to get the drift of
events.
Please make it point to send all pa
pers containing accounts of the world S
series, baseball and all football games.
That's the kind of stuff the soldiers
want, that with generous amount of
such stuff as the following: Life, Puck.
Golfers, Leslies. American Munsey In