Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1918-05-16
Letter from brennan Douglass.
Still in France
Eob Oh ,olo

1oyt0r from brennan Douglass,
Still in France
Feb. 20, 1913
Dear Brother. William:
| received your very interest
ing letter of Dec. 18th nearly two
weeks ago, and am just now able
TO answer. am getting along O
4. and hope you are the same.
nave been in the trenches a few
times now, although l am moi
there now. / started to answer
your letter while in the trenches,
but was unable to send it as ]
couldn't get any envelope. Since
writing to you last, | have been
transferred to a new outfit, al
though | am still carrier as 10th
y. All that have been doing here
IS eating, sleeping and light ia
tlgue. Believe me, they sure do
feed US the chow here. It makes
me feel good too. AS we were fed
only twice daily and not much
then.
l can't say that I abhor trench
life, as one has so many very ex-
citing as we'll as interesting ex-
periences. But there r many,
who will not forget same as con-
dltions were bad at first. But as
the Sammies are always on the
Job these h%indrences were soon
put out of existence. II sure does
seem that Mo. Valley fellows are
getting the spirit of the times,
and enlisting. Sure surprised me
TO hear Of all the fellows going in
a bunch the way ;hey did, but
maybe many others thought that
about our bunch. There will UNI
doubtedly be a bunch of fooled
fellows who are enlisting for a
certain trade. only, as they are
used for labor the same as any
one. And that is none too bad. as
it. is. all to win the war.
Since you ask me about our all
lies, I'll try and tell you as little
as know. To begin with, I don't
have much to do with any but am
more familiar with the French
soldiers. The French soldiers are
a. very sturdy we'll built bunch.
They are somewhat smaller than
the Americans. The. French SOL
dlers are divided into four differ
emit armies that I know of. The
main armies uniform is of light
blue. These troops we're organic
cd after the beginning of the war.
Ihere is a class of soldiers that
were organized before the war,
who are called the original troop
ers. They YEA uniforms of olive
drab being very much like ours.
81 1t seems, these men are larger
than those in the regular army.
and have also seer more service.
Now there is a class of men.
who dWelt in the Alps along Swi-
tzerland previous to the war. Now
these men + very sturdy owing
to: their environments and topo-
gFaphy of this rugged country.
These troopers are a much feared
class by the Boche as they kill all,
taking only an occasional prison.
er. They in turn, do not allow
themselves to be taken alive, so
have derived the name of ''Bluc
DEVILS Their uniforms are of
dark blue with black cap, sculptor
style.
The fourth class that | have
seen quite a bit of are the Colon
lal Troops or colored troops. And
they hail from the South, in the
Northern part of Africa. They are
good fighters and have been the
brunt of many an attack with
great bravery and ability. Today
is a beautiful day yet quite chilly.
| was just outside watching our
autoaircraft guns ''blaze away at
a Roche plane which has come
thru.
Hoping to hear from you regu-
larry, although l am unable to
write so often, | am as ever,
Your brother,
brennan d.