Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-26
LETTER OF A SELECTED MAN
AT CAMP MEADE TO HIS MOTHER
cautions Loved Ones at Home Need to Heed
Alarming Reports as to Morals Spread
by Chronic Scandal Mongers

CAMP MEADE. Admiral, Nd. oct. Is.
YEAR MOTHER-I find It almost an
- impossibllty to pen you letter with
out discussing a few of the camp notables
IN fact, the human side of the cantonment
is all that is interesting, and today shall
introduce you to John Eopoluccl who admits
that he is the happiest man at Little Penn
Eopolucci is from Washington and mem-
Der Of the S12th Machine Gun Battalion.
which is more commonly styled "The States
mems Suicide Club" Few men i'm camp
have more reason to be happy in regard TO
their assignments than the washingtonian.
Tor he has been given a chance to avenge
the death of n brother
Eopolucci's brother was the first AmerI-
can citizen to be killed after the declaration
of war, and sacrificed his life when one of
the German sea pirates sent an American
ship to the bottom. John is in his twenty
second year, and when accepted by the
Washington draft officials asked them to
place him in a machine gun unit They
Informed him that IL was impossible for
them to grant such a request and explained
that his status in the new army was a
matter for the staff officers to determine.
Despite this disappointment. Eopoluccl
learned a few days later that virtually all
of'the Washington men selected for the Ma
tlOldl army WOulu De assigned TO suicide
clubs, and upon his arrival at the camp he
was overjoyed TO learn that he had been
chosen for that branch OF the service.
met him today, and a happier man never
lived He told me that he was working with
all the vim that he could muster and that
he would surely handle one of the rapid-fire
guns when General Kuhn leads the Seventy
ninth Division against the Huns.
AvENGE BROTHERS. DEATH
said the Italian, land will make few Ger
mans pay dearly for his murder They may
get me, but I shall get few before they
reach me-"
There are 343 men in this outfit at the
present time, but that is only half the size
Of the battalion, for when developed TO war
strength II will contain at least 500.
The Washington crowd is versatile and,
like other units, Is cosmopolitan in It's char
acter. one of the notables is Joe Amin,
Washington newspaper man. Joe has been
attached to the headquarters company and
is the handy man in that detachment.
Vic Omsted. also a newspaper man, has
been made a sergeant in Company B, and
IS taking to the work like a veteran. Vic
was on the Mexican border for eight months
with a Washington organization and is one
of the few military authorities in the bat
TALON.
In your letter winch Tedtneu me llllS
morning you express some doubt concern
ing moral conditions at the camp and ask If
YOU can do anything. There is but one
thing that you and other mothers can dc
toward protecting the morals of the boys
at Little Penn. and that is an easy task
to perform. Just make a contribution to
the Y. NJ. c. A. or knights of Columbus, and
those organizations will assume the respon-
sibility of safeguarding the morals Of Camp
Meade soldiers.
They are doing a splendid job at IT, too
| and can do better if they obtain the funds
| The Y. NJ c. A. is spending a big sum OF
money at the camp and in the very neal
! future will ask Philadelphia to contribute
| 81 .OOO, 900 toward the work. The knights
| of Columbus also need funds and are
making an effort to raise money through
| church organizations.
CAMP MORALS CLEAN
You have read General Kuhn's state
| ment in regard to conditions, but to ease
your mind | shall permit Joe Amin, the
| trained observer, to say a few words OF
| that line.
"a better camp" says Amin, does moi
! exist II is so isolated that vice, in or ever
| near the camp is out the question and car
| exist only in the minds Of imaginative
! creatures who are looking for trouble.
| Statements which detail the hazards &c
| which the men are subjected are absurd
| and reflect upon every man in camp. Be
/ fore any scandal monger makes an address
| that deals with the terrible conditions al
! Camp Meade it would be worth while and
! in fact only fair to the soldiers for hin
| to pay the camp visit"
This is what Amin says and every mar
! in camp will substantiate his statement.
| forgot to mention in my last letter
that the heating plants are in operation