Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-12-04
C. ROSENTHAL
I'm FRANCE WRITES
Son of +. j. ROsenthal, Who is a
Wagner Over i'm France Writes
an Interesting Letter From
Over There
SAID WAS HARD TO
KEEP UP TO THE GERMANS
They Were Running So Fast That il
Took Motor Cars and Airplanes
To Catch Them
Somewhere in France
Nov. 8, 1918.

Dear folks. II just nnlSheQ read
ing some letters so if / want to re-
ceive some more. think better write.
Everything is fine here except for the
Germans. They are running so fast
the Americans can't find them. We
have to use trucks and airplanes to
keep up with them. guess they are
about done for and are beating it
for home. We are in town that the
Germans occupied since 1915 and We
find a great many German things
The town now is all battered 10
pieces which / think must have been
from our own shells in driving tn
Germans out, Just across from our
quarters is church that is pretty
we'll shot, but there are still some
pretty paintings and decorations left.
Back of this church is a cemetery
wherethere are Germans and Ameri-
cans buried. There are some shell
holes there which have dug up the
and that was great sport / was out
all Saturday night on a trip and
when l got back the boys were all
on their trucks ready to pull out ]
packed my buds together threw
taem on and away we went for an
other 10 or IL hours. Believe me
when We got here / was ready foc
bed.
We have to move every few days TO
keep up with the Germans, so that
every move We make is a move to-
ward home. I received the church
paper you sent and mighty glad to
get it, as it will help me in locating
where some Of the boys are. We pass
but when one is on a truck riding
it is hard to tell who the boys are.
If I know what branch of service
tthey are in then i can keep better
watch and perhaps see some. | also
received the gum and many thanks.
While | am not crazy about it it sure
tasted good. Put some in every let
ter, at least five sticks or more, all
the envelope will hold. AS long as it
is in an envelope it will go through,
but packages will not. / received
letter this morning from aunt Paul
ine This letter she wrote in German,
SO / could not read it very we'll. She
said as long as couldn't make out
the French one she would try Ger
man and see if l could read that.
She said she received. a letter from
father and one from aunt Engine.
They are all well and getting along
alright. She is very anxious to have
me come and visit them. But she does
not realize that we are at war and
that we can't go whenever We like to.
I'll have to wait until the war is over
and then go and see them.
According to the letters the boys
are getting you people back in the
states are having an awful time in
the states with Spanish "fu". I hope
you people pulled through alright.
The last letters l received were writ
ten in September so they are pretty
old. / hope the next mail | get will
be of later date, giving more of the
latest news.
am anxious to get home paper,
so when you can send me the Pub
lie Opinion. / had some luck yester-
day by running across Y. M. G. A.
where / could buy some tobacco.
haven't had chew for sometime, so
/ bought six pounds Of Horseshoe
Don't that sound good, mother? Ha.
Ha. | will say while L. have been
without it / gained in weight, so !
know mother was right when she
told me to leave it alone. l have got
ten so. fat since ! came over that
had to change all my clothing Tor
larger sizes. / am heavier now than
| ever was, SO you see that am
we'll kept by Uncle Sammy This
morning | had two big pieces or
beefsteak, potatoes, bread and coffee,
so that was a pretty good breakfast
Well / must close for now. Hope
you are all we'll and everything IL
getting along fine. j wish ! could be
there to help you put away future
goods and that car of New York
apples which suppose is in by this
time. An apple here costs about -
cents, so i don't eat any, but I'll wait
until | get home, and I'll snow You
if I can't eat them. We just got
through talking about who was going
to get the biggest and best Christ
mas box. / said mine would be box
of Hershey's and they told me
would be among the missing If did