Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-12-03
LETTER FROM HAROLD DIETL.

France, Enroute, Oct. 27, 1918.
Dear Mr.. Albers:
Just finished bunch of letters for
those at home and still have time for
one more before going to roost.
It's been some spell since I've writ
ten to you and have done some trav-
cling around since that time, too. We
have Travelled south far enough to see
Mt. Blanc and far enough north to
hear the rattle of guns and to see the
flashes of them at night. The coun-
try that we have traye1ed through and
especially that of northern France, is
very pretty. The farms are wonder
full considering that all the work is
done by the women and children. The
only time that you see man he is in
uniform and perhaps on short leave
of absence, filling in his time by help
ing at home.
One night about a week or so ago
we ran into an air raid but luckily
none of the bombs were dropped at
the station where we were at. They
did, however, land at the station which
was our destination and which we ar
rived at on the following morning, af-
ter being carried away past our jump
ing off place by the frog crew. The
more one goes around these foreign
countries the more one realizes what
a wonderful country the U. S. A. is.
What fine sight it is to see a whole
string of real box-cars and pulled by
a real engine with the letters U. S. A.
on it.. All these things make you
think of Gods country. No doubt you
MOI hnY hot hn
gines look like from your previous
travels over here, and how they shake
the very life out of one.
The weather around these parts has
been fine the past few weeks with the
exception of just little rain. The
nights. however, are mighty cold and
it sure feels nice to get into my car
where / have nice little coal fire
agoing. AS long as we have that
and the good things to eat which we
get we're not worrying much.
Speaking about the grub, it can't be
beat because it is of the best possible.
For supper tonight we had beef steak,
vegetable soup, peach jam and bread
and coffee. We sure can't kick on that
kind of grub. On one trip a week or
so ago we were not quite so fortunate
though as we travelled from Saturday
afternoon until the following We'd
nesday morning without anything
more than bully beef and hardtack
which was broken with little to-
matoes and beans. 1t was different
alright but at the same time it came
out of can. That is where the rub
comes in, everything is canned.
The other day we passed an entire
train load of Austrian prisoners be-
ing taken to the rear. l have often
seen carloads of them but never an
entire train full of them. They were
put in about fifty to the car and we
counted forty odd cars of them. Few
had the look of gloom on their faces,
most of them were smiling and we'll
they might for they were out of the
big show and knew that they would
get their meals regularly and have a
place to sleep at night just as soon as
they reached camp. On several oc-
casions | have talked with some of
these fellows and everyone of them
told how poorly they as we'll as the
people of Germany were being fed,
and taken care of.
1 suppose that you remember
Der Vic. Stolze who used to come into
the store quite bit. Anyway the
other night while in large city l ran
into him and sure did have a dandy
chat. He is the first fellow l have
seen from home since we landed here
in August.
Sent cards to Harry NJ. Mr.. Crane,
some time ago. Have they ever said
ANYTHING about receiving them? The
next time they call and you happen
to be busy with customers tell them
% sit down and write me few lines.
realize how busy they both are but
tell them it will be appreciated that
much more. The finest reading mate
rial we can get hold of over here is
a letter. 1 wish you could have seen
our bunch when we landed at base
and sack of mail was handed to
us. l was one of the fortunate ones,
too, as l received just sixteen of them
| I've read them so much that they're
getting ragged on the edges.
| Almost nine o'clock and that is away
past my ned time, so l think it best
to retire to my cot and its heap of
blankets. I'm somewhat like the fell
low who ha0 so many blankets that
he had to use a book-mark so that he
would know where to crawl in.
Kindly give my regards to all /
know and to Mrs. Albers and the fam
lilly.
Sincerely,
HAROLD.
Pvt. Harold Dietl. Hospital Train
No A, A. E. F., France