Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-09-13
Hospital, June 20, 1918.

hospital, June ~, 1918.
Dear Mother:
/ have wanted to write to you for
some time but I wasn't able. You
see a few days ago we went into the
front line trenches again. We had
hardly got settled when the boche
started drive. They got more than
they were looking for but took some
of our noble boys to do it. Two big
shells struck in the trench directly
behind me, both at once. 1t was one of
the wonders of the world that l es-
capped with my life because my men
were badly hurt. | was badly shell
shocked and my ear drum was brok
en- by the conclusion of the ex-
plosion, and piece of shrapnel made
a wound in my hip. 1t is nothing
serious and in a short time | will be
my old self again.
We have some wonderful Red
Cross nurses. They seem to know
every want of the wounded soldiers
and do everything in their power to
make them comfortable.
Well, dear mother, this is enough
to let YOU know l am coming along
fine SO will close for now.
Your loving son,
LESTER f. WALKER.
Mrs. G. c. Metcalf of - High
street, Augusta has received the fol-
lowing letter from her son. Sergeant
Clyde w. Metcalf in Paris, France.
S. S. L. 607, Convois Automobile.
Par b. C. NJ. Paris, Aug. 13, 1918.
Dear Mother and all the family:
Last Tuesday after | had written
you on Sunday. two of your letters
came to me here; yesterday | re-
ceived another with the very nice en-
closure from Georgia. / would have
written last evening after finishing
my letter to ARA but the electricity
was on the blink for some reason SO
had to go to bed without finishing my
letter to her. You can tell George
for her brother that he thinks so
very much on what she wrote him
that he will write her a special letter.
perhaps tomorrow sight Some of
Arra's letters have finished their
travels to find me in France and
caught up to me here within eight
DAYS The one / received today was
written when she was out at Read
field.
1t sure is nice to begin to learn the
home news again. OF course it is
news to us over here no matter how
tardy our letters may be. If l knew
just what service Guy Gannett came
over here for, l think l could get
some track of him.
After my highly interesting ex-
perience following the scissors ad
vance things down here seem just
wonderful. Real people and parks
and boulevards and houses with peo-
pie still in them, not the shattered
piles of broken stone and dust that
lie where the opposing armies have
held and lost positions. In spite of
the fact that we slept in filthy straw
that had been used by the boche just
nine days before us and in spite of
our inability to wash for four days
on a stretch 1--WE could hardly get
water fit to put in the radiators of
our machines) l apparently came out
Q. x. Though l found myself
scrambling in the dust from the con-
cussion of one of the big shells that
struck the road 20 yards ahead, the
nearest | came to injury was a nick
in the tip of my ear from a flying
piece of rock. Six of our machines
were struck and there were two OF
my casual outfit that l could not re-
port back to base camp; but we
came back with the special COM
mendation of the Medical Corps
Ma ior of our division for uhnr,, NO