Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-12-28
With Islanders
In the Service
WrItas ns Fighling Ends.


Mr.. and Mrs. John +. Seitz, 10ll
Fourteenth street, in letter 70
The Argus, states that it vas the
18th month, the nth day and the
IIth hour at the time or the writ
ing and that ne had Just learned OF
the signing of the armisuce. a
brother, John +. SeitZ, Jr., is also
n service.
Sergeant Paul Seitz's letter is ep-
pended:
Il have been asked several times
10 write to you and as this is a
Wonderful day / thought / would
write TO you. This is the llth
month, 11th day and the 18th hour
and every soldier in France is once
more happy-happy / say because
Eostiiities have ceased.
You people | don't believe can
realize our happiness and what 1t
means to us. When we received
the news we were sitting around an
old open fireplace which was in an
old tumbled down building, argu-
ing and betting when the war
would be over and when we would
go home. 1t was wonderful news,
but we realized the seriousness OF
it all. So we watched the clock
and strained our ears for the sound
Of a bursting shell. We kept this
up until 3 o'clock when We knew 1t
would be official. That night CUR
company gave a prayer of thanks to
the Almighty for protecting our
lives through this strife and pray
ing for the ones that left us.
Il enlisted in June, 1917, and
have been in France for six months
so you see / will be glad when l
am home again.
Last evening l received two
months papers and was looking
them over when l ran on to the
one of the -- drive. 1t was in
teresting to see what you people
thought of this drive as I was IN It.
The big drive started on General
- birthday and we sure cele-
brated. When we left that front
for the - front our company
walked all the way and made it in
record time So you see the ma
rines have nothing on US. So on
the night of - We went over the
German lines and just raised h.
$50 many used to think that ths
ambulance companies have it easy.
But they haven't. The litter bear
ers must walk in the open, do their
first aid and walk mile or two
with a man weighing 175 or 200
pounds to an advance dressing sta
ton. This Is no easy task on a
road where there are II and 155
shells bursting all the time. The
perspiration Just runs off the fore
head At places he must run across
a place where the shells burst and
again he must fall in the mud 70
get away from the shrapnel. Just
now the band is playing my Coun-
try 'Tis of Thee" for a man who
gave his life at 20 minutes to II.
That is the worst thing that could
have happened, believe.
"A man in the medical corps sees
action from the trenches to the
base hospital and sees men in their !
worst condition-men with their |
legs in a figure S, heads fractured |
etc.
I'm one Of our dressing stations /
| met Miss Maude Radford Warren, J.
a writer for the Saturday Evening |
Post. 1t was the first day of the .
drive and many wounded men were 1
coming in, but she did not become I
tired of feeding the suffering boys I
with hot chocolate and cookies, and /
when a shell burst near she wanted /
10 know where it hit and if it did !
any harm. She was as cool as any
one. ! admired her courage.
There was one thing happened !
that noon that I cannot help writ
ing about We saw coming through .
the woods a slightly wounded Yank
on the arm of Hun and three or
four yards back of them was a
slightly wounded Hun on the arm ,
of a Yank We could not help but |
1mile little at this because a few /
minutes ago they were bitter en-
emies and now they were bringing |
one another TO the aid station. !
TNere were many wounded German
prisoners on their way in bringing
in the wounded
at seems so strange not TO hear /
the whistle of the shells and the .
NJ. P. bawIing out "camoufage" at /
night. We cannot wait for that
great day when we land in the dear
old U. S. A.
This paper I am writing on is
German paper which found in one
OF the quarters"