Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-06
LETTER GIVES /. !. !.
VIVID VIVID PICTURE
- L3.; 49,
| FIGHT II LIFE
Boche Shells Don't Worry
Frank A. WoodsfVe Very
Il. Much.

I Tlvdto FRANK "A. Woods, VINO lot.
merly was a member OF Company NJ,
164th infantry, American expeditions
,ary forces. but now is with Company
B, motor battalion, second division
ammunition train. admits in a letter
written on June 10 to relatives in this
city. that in the beginning the boche
shells make your knees get sort Of
wabbly," but he says; after a while
you get used to 1t, and 1t doesn't both.
er you much" What Private Woods
does detest, is al aeroplane bomb, for
It ts sure a wicked thing" he ex-
claims.
/ The letter from Private Woods is
exceptionally interesting because Of
the vivid description it gives Of ac-
tual warfare; 1t reads as follows:
Saw General >Pershing.
II. saw General Pershing the ether
day as he sped by in his big. limousine;
It was the first time I had seen him.
He thinks a lot of the Second division
because Of the wonderful fighting It
has been doing recently. This division
has. as a matter Of fact, done some
splendid work, and the ammunition
train has been working day and night
carrying ammunition Of all kinds up
to the infantry and artillery. For two
days and nights I didn't have more
wv AAOuIS oAScps w J. was Oh
the go most of the rest of the time. !, ,
Il have been right in the thick Of
It on this front-one day right be-
tween the German batteries and the
French and American batteries. The
German shells were whistling over my
mead one way, and the shells from our
batteries the other way. Only the
whistling of one was decidedly difer-
n from that Of the others, ].
Shells We're Everywhere.
You U hear the boche shells
come whistling over, then 'zowie,' it
would explode. sometimes back Of you,
beside you or in front of .you-no tell
Ing where. When one bursts near you,
your knees get sort Of wabbly, but aft
err awhile you get used to it. and it
e bother o SO much. What I
nate Is an. aeroplane bomb. These are
such wicked things, and I don't be-
ilev there's anyone that doesn't have
a FUNNY feeling when one explodes
near.
Our train was stopped in a turn
one night and a boche came over and
dropped a few around us. One Of
tnem landed about IS or 100 feet away
from n trucks, and the dirt and
rocks poured down on our heads for
awhile. We crouched next to. a stone
wall. n I thought surely it was GO
ing to tumble down. The bomb made
g hol in the ground about twenty
feet deep and thirty feet across. SO
you can e how powerful it was.
There was ammunition in the trucks.
n IT the bomb had hit one of them.
It. would have blown up. the whole
train-and us with 1t. But It missed
us-so why worry!
Wouldn't Have Stayed Home.
That was my first taste OF actual
warfare, and I would much rather be
undershell fire than bomb fire. I am
coming back, all right, and I expected
wheneI came over here, to go through
these experiences. When I went to
one OF the y field hospitals and saw
somesof the boys there and heard
what they had to say, I could very
well understand what we are fiehtinx
for. l wouldn't have stayed home for
the world, and I consider it a priyil-
eye to be able to serve my country.
On the fifteenth Of this month 7
VIII be entitled to service stripe.
That means six months Of forairn
service which began the day, I Ieft
Say Hello, to everybody for r.,.