Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-03-20
Stationed at Camp Joseph f. John
son, Member of 3O4 Field Re-
~. mount Squadron, jackson.
Vile, Florida.
INTERESTING NEWS
ABOUT FLORIDA
Says No One Need to Worry About
the Decorah Boys, They Have
Everything One Could Wish
Camp Joseph E. Johnson,
March 13, 1918.
304 Field Remount Squadron,
Jacksonville, Florida.

|
Jacksonville, Florida.
Dear Editor:
Your interesting paper comes to
me regularly, and it seems good to
get all the home news, and / assure
you that l enjoy it very much.
| will try to explain to the best OF
my ability, various things of interest
here, and also some OF our duties
We, R. Burns Milne and myself, en-
listed, and on Jan. 10, 1918, left De-
corah, on the l l o'clock train for the
South, to Q. NJ. c., Jacksonville,
Florida; we arrived in Chicago just
in time to get in the great snow
| blockade, and had to remain there
until the following Monday, when we
| got out on the Dixie Flyer" at Z a.
m, ran into another big snow storm
at Vincennes, Ind. and finally reached
our destination on the 18th, having
| been a whole week on the way.
! Indiana is somewhat rolling, yet
swampy in places, much the same as
Illinois; went through the mountains
in the night, so missed the most in
! tereSting part of the trip; Georgia is
nice. the soil red and the country is
gently rolling, nothing but cotton and
pine trees all the way; all the houses
are up on pillars, about two feet
high, which seemed very queer to me.
On arriving here l was a real green
Rookie, but have learned consider
able about soldering since then, tho
small part of what one must know
before we are fit for over sea duty.
This camp is located about eleven
miles S. w. of Jacksonville, on the
beautiful st. Thomas river would
call the soil loamy sand, about
ninety-nine per cent sand, but at that
trees are plentiful throughout the
camp, which gives the place home
like appearance.
You must remember that this camp
was only started last October, and to
see it now, wonderful little city in
itself, with pavement, electric lights,
sewerage, water works, and in fact,
modern in every way; l think at
present. there are nearly sixteen
thousand men here. and they are a
fine lot of fellows too
We have three Y. NJ. C. A. build
| ings, Hostess House, Camp Library,
X. c. Hall and Liberty Theatre, all
of which afford plenty of clean,
wholesome amusement for the men,,
which everyone enjoys to the fullest
extent.
| We were placed in Receiving Co.
/ II, and here is where our army life
began; here we received all our in
oculations, physical tests, and all
fundamentals of infantry drill, pre-
pairing us for transfer into a perma-
nent Co., the one we are now in.
This is an entirely new organiza-
ton, in the @. M. Department, and
with 301, 302, 303, are the only ones
of the kind in the U. S.NArmy, all Of
which are at this camp; our Squad
ron, 304, being the first to see over
sea duty; we are to supply horses to
the Artillery Base, and will be very
interesting, from what l understand
OF the work, and we feel that we are
fortunate in getting into this branch
of the service, for it being new, there
is great chance for advancement, If
one makes good,
We are up at 5 In the morning,
stand reveille at Sis, have calesthe-
mics for one-half hour, have mess,
then cavalry drill, also semaphore
the entire day; and it makes soldiers
Of us all in every sense OF the word
Plenty of good wholesome food is
furnished Us, and when the bugle
blows for chow every man is on the
job; for dinner we have roast beef,
brown gravy, mashed potatoes, peas
bread and coffee; at mess we get
frankforts, potatoes. apple sauce,
bread and Coffee this menu is chang
ed daily, and our bread is always ex-
ceptionally good.
Have visited Jacksonville several
(COntinued on mage a.