The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1918-10-30

\ YRA ksTAA from over there III
France, where he
@6aA has been engag-
NXNcs ed for some time
in driving the Boches back on their
way to Berlin and the following from
his pen is about as good a letter as
we have yet published:
Sept. 22, 1918.
Dear Ones at Home:
just a few lines today to let you
know that / an well and feeling fine,
hoping this finds you all the same. We
have been having some rainy weather
over herefbut it is getting about that
time of the year that we can begin to
look for bad weather.
/ received q letter from Earl this !.
nlorning;- he Is O: k; also another
from Mike. He is still trying to
get back into the outfit. guess that
you will know by this time that we
have been doing some fighting and
are about ready to go up for the third
time. I don't know where it will be
this time but rest assured it will be
another victory. There will be plen-
/ ty Of excitement wherever it happens
I to be as the 10th Field has reputa-
tion fcr itself. We never started
anything yet that we didn't finish.
7 a u
we started in killing Huns. We have
named our gun Maxine. It,was also
estimated that this gun killed 5000
I Germans IN onc~of our hottest battles
and one of those muddy, greasy and
! smoked up devils that manned her
was no other than your own boy. /
I thought war was hell once. when you
1 get your command to fire and you stop
ever SO little to think that Thou
/ shalt not Kill ana thou art thy broth
I eu's keeper bat you must kill or be
( killed in order TO wipe out the Hun, so
1 I can pull the lanyard now and send
my best regards along with an 49,
pcunder and that's about the best
4 sounding peace talk have heard. Oh
Vre went through with it fine this last
time and came back without ever a
man wounded, not so bad is it; but
this little fracous couldn't held can
/ die to that VIC saw upon the Marne-
Fritz has found out that Gne Yanks
aren't the boys that back up very easy
so tell Pa to cheer up, if we get
( couple more rars at them before win
ter sets in think Kaiser Bill will
have plenty Il not too much.
There are not many of the boys
I locking for honors or medals, we are
I looking for Berlin and next that
Statue of Liberty all us boys want to
/ get back at the front and get it
/ over with. 1t is truly a glorious
\ thing to be n soldier for the II. S. A.
to have the right to fight for the star
ry banner which when it unfurls to
the breeze is the one grand inspiration
cf all US boys at the front and we are
now as our fcrefathers years ago
/ fighting for liberty and surely none
/ Ixr~rII
boys here. But it must be right
eous peace, free from all oppression
of autocracy, every man to stand free
and equal as just God intended it
/ should be. That's the kind Of peace
every soldier wants and is willing to
fight for until such can be restored
united we stand, everyone of us back
ing the president in each and every
peace term.
Well, now to clean up bit and then
for 40 winks of slep and don't worry
about me, l am all right and will
write whenever / can sometimes there
isn't much time nor much material.
Hoping to hear from you soon and
to hear that Father is improving, /
am as ever. with my best love to all,
Chas. S. Cowles,
Chief Mechanic. Battery B., 10th
Fled Artillery, A. z. f., A. P. o. 740
France.
Ben Longan, a grandson of Mr..
and Mrs. Frank p. Hamman, writes
the following letter to them and in
an optimistic vein tells them not to
worry now but to wait until he gets
home, that the time for worrying will
start then:
Dear Ones at Home:
just had my dinner and as it was
an unusually good one, am feeling
very good natured and as / have all
the mud scraped off me and am all
dried out / think i had better write,
now don't you think that good apol-
ogy.
Just got that first installment Of
magazines but not letter, but am still
looking for that later.
Say, / had that filled out about my
insurance and let me know if you get Z
it, also my Liberty bond should be
there by this time. Write about this
at once and / will get after them
again~if they don't hurry up.
am not on the telephone anymore
but am runner if you know what
that is. / will have better chance
to explain everything when get
home, which will-Se about Easter or
later. I think that Is the best time
of the year to get home then / can
have whole new outfit for then, don't
you?
haven't heard anything more Of
Spencer but imagine he is way back
doing M: ?. duty. Az for the rest
CT the fellows see O'Connor and
Havey every day and Kloek, haven't
seen for . month, while / am in the
same company with Pierson, Madden,
0berlin. Holcomb. Vanhorn, and Nor
| gan and they are o. k. Tel1 their
folks 30. Belding won't have = very
heavy casualty list 90 far but now
don't think I am trying to brag or
anything like that.
Mother said in her letter that she