Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-01-23
Sergeant WELTERLEN
WRITES FROM FRANCE
BOY WITH AMERI-
CAN FORCES IN FRANCE WRITES
OF HIS EXPERIENCES.
BOYS ARE WELL AND HAPPY
Extracts From Letters Written To
Family. Strict Censorship Pre-
vents Publishing Definite Facts.


number of letters the family has re-
ceived since their son, Sergeant Roy
Welterlen has arrived in France with
the American Expeditionary Forces.
Strict censorship prevents the sol
diers from telling of their trip across,
and giving out any information as to
the exact location in France. Friends
wishing to get in communication with
soldiers in France can address them
by company and regiment and A. E.
F. via New York City. All mail ad-
dressed to men in France is dispatched
from New York. If the company and
regiment is designated.
Following are parts of letters writ
ten under different dates:
Somewhere in France, Dec. IL, 1917.
Dear Folks We'll, as We are set
tied for a time quite comfortably, l
thought it a good plan to write a
word or two so you will know I am
still o. X. OF course I can not say
anything about where we are or
where we have been, but can say that
at present we are fairly we'll placed
and are as comfortable as we can be.
We are in France now as you per-
haps know, and today was our first
day of doing any kind of work, most
of the company being out all day and
working quite hard. 1t has been quite
cold and last night and today it has
been showing 1t was a wet snow
and of course we being out in it have
had wet feet and coats to dry. We
are expecting to get some clothes,
boots, ETC., issued, which will be bet
ter during the cold and wet than we
now have Will be we'll fixed when
we are all fitted out. The best Of all
is that we have our own cooks work
ing for us. and at the first feed we
had all we could eat. We had been
on travelling rations on the ship and
coming here, also on English feed for
a while, and believe me, our old army
rations sure went fine. The day we
came here I was with the baggage. so
was late for mess. The cook had saw
ed for us lot and we sure did fill
up. Don't know what our Christmas
dinner will be like, but will surely be
better than our Thanksgiving.
CHARTERED at Historic Spot.
The town near where we are quar-
tered has quite history. 1t has been
known to have been a city some two
or three hundred years before Christ.
Sites for houses and other buildings,
having been plated that long ago, are
still to be seen. 1t is fine place and
we are surely lucky to be near in. 1t
is built on the top of high hill and
we can look for miles in any direc-
ton. wish I could tell you just
where we ARE then you could find out
about it, and would know what kind
of place it is. I have not been to
town yet, but all the fellows say it is
a fine place. Can buy most anythi1g g
you want.
Everybody has been glad that we
are in France. 1t is such beautiful
country, and if we could only talk
French we would be able to learn
much about the country. that we would
always remember.
Good Feeling Between French and L.
s. Soldiers.
We have seen lots of French sol
diers or "Poilus" as they are called
here, and they are surely fine set
of men. They are only too anxious
to mix with the U. S. men. They try
hard to understand each other and il
is surprising how we can get their
meaning and they ours. They are al
ways around us looking over our
equipment and clothes and invite us
to eat with them, and we invite them
to eat with us. They also like to fiji
our canteens with their wine. At the
station the other day the boys had
their canteens filled with it. Most all
of them have souvenirs of the war
and they try their best to make us
understand how and where they got
them This is surely wonderful
country, and l am going to see as
much of it as l can while here.
I have not seen anything Of our
mail and don't know where it is. Have
been expecting it most any time, but
have had no luck so far. I hope we
can get it before long. Perhaps our
moving so often has bothered some.
A year ago tomorrow at p. m. we
were just leaving Brownsville. bound
for Gods country. I never thought
at that time that 7 would be here.
What do you hear from the bunch at
Deming, New Mexico?
Dec. "a, 1917.
I am over at the "Y," and although
it is the night before Christmas I