Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1917-05-23
SOLDIER BOYS WRITE
OF Their EXPERIENCE
Letters From Boys Located at
Different Forts in Coast
Artillery Service.

Mt|NeIy service.
Sam Olson, who is stationed at Fort
Adams, Rhode Island, writes this Of
flee an interesting letter dated May 10.
In part he says:
II received the bunch of 'Tribunes',
the May 9th issue and distributed them
to the rest OF the Willmar boys here.
You ought to see how eager they were
to get them and read the news from
home. To most of us it was the first
news received from home since our
arrival here. I read that paper a lot
more thoroly than ever did before.
Local Boys There.
"Willmar is pretty we'll represented
here; another bunch came in Tuesday,
May IS. With the exception Of Ben
Falkinghan, all of the last bunch that
enlisted in the coast artillery and left
Willmar on May 3rd came here. Alto
gether there are sixteen from home
here. They are Richard Taylor, Hans
Peterson, Earl Frye, Emil Lindskoog
and myself in the first company; Roy
Danielson, William Gratz and William
Peterson in the second; Arne Wellin,
Eddie Christopherson, Joe Kvam and
George Madison in the third; Elroy
Peterson, Thorwald Thorson, Willard
Sundfors and Jens Olson in the fourth
company. Our addresses are Fort
Adams, Newport Rhode Island, and
the company.
Hard to Adjust Self.
81 found it to be quite hard to adjust
~ ~ ,~to
went along. A soldier is supposed to
be able to endure any mental strain
that circumstances might call for. l
was far from being soldier when /
left home, and consequently had
hard time to adjust my mind to the
changes we went thru. The attitude
parture left deep impression on all
of us. When we arrived at Jefferson
Barracks it was so strikingly oppos-
tie that it nearly knocked us over. We
were not offering our services to our
country without some sacrifice on our
part, as we'll as on the part Of our
folks at home, so it was hard to adjust
ourselves to the attitude at the Bar
racks. OF course one must take into
consideration the fact that they were
ing recruits pouring in at the rate of
thousands day. At least it gave me
a wrong impression Of the army. Here
it is so different you would hardly
know it is the same organization. Es-
pecially in the first company things
are lot better than expected to find
them when left home.
Description Of Barracks.
N0,,r ho okc orn hrick hni16inpS
situated near the shores of small
bay, that forms part of Newport har-
| Dor. Across the bay we can plainly
see the city Of Newport, not over a
mile away We have good chance to
| watch the ships pass in and out of the
harbor, which is quite interesting to us
who come from inland towns. On one
side of the bay, extending clear up 20
the government reservation are quite
a number of magnificent summer resi-
dences belonging to wealthy residents
of Newport and other cities. They are
situated a little back from the cliffs
overlooking the bay, and make pic
turesque sight with their green lawns
and vine-covered walls, above the
bare, rocky cliffs. In summer time
they certainly must make an impress
sive sight. The first cOmpany's bar
racks, in time of peace, accommodate
a little over 100 men; now there are
about It's staying here. It makes it a
little crowded but not so very bad.
All the barracks have about the same
accommodations, sleeping quarters, a
day room, where we can sit in uphol-
stored chairs and read, or listen to the
Victrola, or play billiards, if we wish
to; library where we can read most
of the popular magazines and books
on a great variety of subjects, and
also popular fiction; kitchen and
mess hall or dining room. Both rooms
have hot and cold water; tubs and
scrubbing boards for washing our own
clothes if we wish to save on our laun
dry bills. The food is real good; they
give us all we want and have great
variety"
"Our duties consist entirely of drill
ing and instruction. We get up at 5: 4E
a. M, get ready for Reveille at 6 o.
clock and have few minutes exercise
before breakfast. Have breakfast be
tween $50 and 700 o'clock. Our rea
days work commences at o'clock
We have artillery drill for an hour;
from $3.50 until 10: 80 we have infantry
drill; from 10:45 until 1880 we have
instruction in guard duty; from 1:3(
until $3.50 we have rifle drill; from
until we have instruction in militar!
courtesy, saluting officers, etc. The
different companies may have differen
hours, but the work is about the same
Some are rushed more than others
We find quite bit of spare time OF
our hands. Not including the time W.
spend cleaning up, we are busy abOu
five hours out of the day.
Cleanliness and Good Morals.
"Everything in the army must b.
kept clean. If person enters the al
my with slouchy habits, they will soo1
be taken out of him. A soldier mus
have clean habits and good morals
The army tries to uphold the moral
of the men all they can. I often hea
men reprimanded for using profan
and Indecent language. The corpora
who has charge of our instruction
gives us long lectures on the bad RI