The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-03-08
FROM The
BOYS IN ARMY CAMP
From Wednesdays Daily.

| with. l was very mucn pIeaSeu u
get the candy as american" candy
sur etastes good in France"
am pretty sure that by the time
you get this letter I may be in the
trenches. 1t looks as though we may
go most any time. We have every
thing that is required for the trench
es. We received our masks the
other day and have been trying them
out several times. We must get used
to them so as to be able to wear
them for at least ten hours. That is
quite long time to wear them. We
have been drilling a great deal since
we have been here, and l am pretty
sure that we are well prepared fol-
the trenches. When 1 get back, will
have many Interesting things to tell
you. So will have to close for this
time, wishing you all very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year
From our nephew, Henry B. Wigen
M. G. Company, Second Battery Ninth
Infantry, A. E. F. France.
/! Mr.. and Mrs. C. L. Wigen received
the following letter from their son
Mother and Father-Being this is
ten was dated January L: My Dear
Mother and Father-Bening this is
the first of the New Year we are hav-
ing a holiday. l received your pack
age which you sent to me yesterday.
Everything arrived o. X. excepting a
couple of articles were missing, Zone
mouthharp, one knife and a face
towel.) But then, there is hardly a
package that comes here but what
part of it is missing. The things in
your package were all wrapped up SO
l know they could not have been
lost. Many thanks to you all, and l
can tell you it was surely appre-
ciated on it's arrival here. | also re-
ceived box of candy from LeRue, and
it sure was grand Whenever a par
I eel comes here they all gather around
to see what you get, and of course
: you have to give a handout Every
thing you sent me was very useful,
and that is good thing, for it is
hard to take care of anything outside
OF what one uses daily. | am going
to tell you what the M. G.. company
got from the Red Cross for Christmas.
We each got two sweaters, two pairs
i
suits of wooden underwear and two
pairs of carpet slippers Surely the
! Red Cross is doing everything in
their power to help us boys along.
And l can tell you, it is well appre-
ciated by everyone over here. We
have had several bad billiards. here.
At the present time there is quite a
bit of snow on the ground. But it
makes no difference how cold it is,
we drill every day. We are all pref
ty tough now and can stand any
amount of it.
Evelyn Wigen received the follow
ing letter from her brother Bert, who
is now in France. letter when writ
ten was dated December 80, 1917: MY
Dear Sister-As l have only wrote
you once since l al over here, | will
now take time enough to write you
again. All the boys of Battery D
(Which is the Battery 1 am I'M re-
ceived package from The Mime
apolis Journal. 1t contained a tooth
brush and paste, tablet, two pencils,
bar of toilet soap and two and one
half pounds of very good candy. And
today l received a package from the
Red Cross; it contained candy, wash
rag and towel, toothbrush and paste
and two pairs of shoestrings, so you
see they surely must be thinking of
the boys in France.
Christmas day we had dinner
served to us in the barracks. We
had turkey and dressing, mashed DO
tatoes and nice brown gravy, (which
you know that l am very fond of
pie and cake, candy, nuts and many
other things, too numerous to men
ton. But l must say, it surely was
the finest dinner l had eaten since
leaving home. On Christmas eve the
headquarters put on an extra good
show that was much enjoyed by all.
AS yet I have not received the
package you sent. but have the let
ter telling about it. So guess it will
be here most any time. Oh yes. 7
must tel you that l got several pack
ages from the folks at Delavan. It
surely was nice of them to remem-
Der me-
You were asking me about the
! army life. AS for myself, l think
there is nothing like it. If / had
known more about this life before. I
] should have put in most of my life
there, for l do not think one can nut
In his time to better advantage
and be taken care of as well as they
are here, if all are treated as Battery
ID. My! but the army life is SO diff
ferent; it seems that all we do is
I duty" There are four of us bows
who chum together and are the best
of friends. Two of them l met dur
! ing our stay at Fort Riley, Kansas.
! and have been together all the while.
We think it quite fortunate that we
haven't been separated before this.
But really, you would be surprised to
see how much like brothers we all
are in Battery 'D'', for believe me.
j that is the way they get to be after
/ being here a Will.
] Yes, receive your mail all o. K.
But do not worry about the BOYS as
+, they are well taken care of. if they
are all treated as Battery D. 151st
] Field artillery. which no doubt they
!, are.
/ Dear Mother and Father: Today is
the eighth of the New Year and so
will take the opportunity to write you
a few lines, as it seems some time
slnceI wrote you. Had a letter from
Bert? He is only about $50 miles