The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1918-10-23


ing letter TO ms parents, telling them
of the trip over and of some of the in
cidents which happened soon after
the boys got over there. George tells
about the great life in the following
letter:
Sept. p, 1913.
Dear Mother and Father:
Received your letter and was glad
to hear from you although your letter
was very short.
News is a thing of the past with
us as we have to be careful and not
give out any information.
We are having some wonderful
weather this month; rain most of the
time and lots of mud, that nice slip
perry kind where you have to watch
your step.
The streets here are like a barn
yard as every farmer has cows and
three times a day they are driven TO
pasture and brought back and they
sure keep the streets in a wonderful
condition.
We left Camp Custer July Is and
landed in Camp Mills, l.. /. on the
afternoon of July II. We were in
camp one week and were issued cloth
ing and on the afternoon of (deleted)
we embarked for France; every one
was glad when the day came to leave
but oh, what a change has come over
the bunch. We had a fine trip over,
took us Is days to cross the pond,
landing in France on the afternoon
of (deleted), leaving the ship on the
morning of Aug we went to rest
camp for "a hours; there were plenty
of Germans there and / want to say
that they sure were husky looking
bunch, nearly all young fellows, l
should Judge between Is and 20.
We were given warning about air
raids and told just what to do in case
the alarm was given and you should
have seen the shirt tail parade about
/ o'clock when the alarm was given;
men were out of their tents and on
their way to the safety zone In less
time than it takes to tell about IT..
There sure was some sprinting done.
There was a ditch across the road we
took for shelter and not few of the
fellows piled up on the opposite side
as it was pitch dark and they were
all in a hurry. The next morning
the boys were going around with their
hands bandaged up or limping and
the worst part of it all is, it was a
false alarm. Dick Crittenden, the
Portland catcher, put his right shoe
on his left foot but couldn't travel
fast enough that way so stopped to
change once and about a dozen fell
lows piled up on him and he has been
raving ever since.
We left there on the afternoon of
the 9Th and travelled in box cars for
two DAYS and two nights; our meals
consisted of corn beef and bread and
believe me we were glad when we
came to the end of that trip; we were
all stiff and tired.
We landed in town on Sunday morn
ing about o'clock and slept in a
church yard for a couple of hours and
then were marched to our billets and
told to clean them up and clean them
UP we did; in fact, we have been
cleaning up ever since.
can't imagine an American farmer
making living here as the farms are
stones; they only pillow about a four
inch furrow and that is mostly stone
and clay.
guess / better let up for this time
or the officer that censors this letter
will be looking for me with shot
gun.
Forest Beemer received a Banner
from his folks and we took turns in
reading it; would like to get more OF
them even if they are month or
more old by the time they get here.
Write often as a letter works won
ders with fellow over here.
Yours with love.
Corp. George Trimble,
Co. B, 340th Inf, A. p. o. 789, A. E.
F., France.