New-York tribune., 1918-11-28
War Bunk
To the Editor of The Tribune

"fote the following in a Letter o
lying IN French hospital with NV"
ouiiet INSIDE OF him and a shrapne, An wsaa
IN his thigh. He was in action a. ~, "0u0e
Ihlerry, Belieau Wood and So,s,o.,S asess
denly thrust into the thick of 49,. Sud'
one OF the hottest sectors on the Amss.l ss u
front, this young college gradusta ''.aA IVA,
light OF the horrors of war while .a,.s .'SNs'
and with surprising self-effaceman. 'A'y
forming a soldiers work. His ,st.. pst-
seems to me, speaks volumes for ~. ~ II
of the citizen soldier, which IN AZ. Sp'''
preme test has done so much to sava s-s. su'
zation 'Nih-
New York, Nov. 90 1918. w.
The object of this letter is to cls.u
your mind, and particularly motber,s :.
horrors and tremendous hardship. '1s
sutferlngs of war" This is from wba. ~ NV
seen and experienced, and will be 49,.
brief. l haven't lived in the uns.'
trenches in deep, damp dugouts vst ' 80,
in and month out, but I've seen tba ,'''A'a
warfare side living in woods in little baI.. r..
III Ine pouring ram and all that
Well, to begin with, you people !, a.
States since the outbreak of the wa, w.
read all the books you could get your hand.
on about the war, and you have bo.. ~,
up on lot of bunk, which perbar. -.
the public what they want-the most H.'s
curdllng and sickening side of the war u
l had my way those men would nav.
dong life terms, as they are CAUSING Ia.
and lots OF unnecessary suffering IN mot.
ers and sisters who have sons and bro...-.
over here. Of course, the war is torr;t,-
hard to those who have had some Of th.;.
family killed or manned, or lost +h.;.
homes, but | am speaking about those VIII
are actually taking part in the fighting
For instance, have seen and eyner;sr..,
lots of things which, after thew are ovs.
have thought to myself, "How wonderfn,,r
narrowing and blood curdling, ETC.. stc
some of those book writers could have mod.
that appear!" But as for me hard,v NJ
tced them. Then, again, you hear about
the streams of wounded coming in and all
the other terrible sights Well. thew sra
there, OF course, but the man who is in the
scrap doesn't notice it, and doesn't lie
awake all night thinking about it. He
doesn't suffer any because he sees thes.
things,ebut they can be worked up into
great things by these writers.
| read story in, think, "The SATURDAY.
Evening Post just after l got out of the
fight near Scissors 1t was practically
what had myself just gone through. saw
how what l had just seen and done could
have been written up into one nearly as
thrilling. You know when | read that
story l got scared myself l got thirsty
and hungry and exhausted, and when got
through l said to myself that if the author
of that story were present I'd blow his
brains out. They make out that the fight
ing men are suffering tortures, but they
aren't. In the lines l get it just as hard
as the men, more SO, if anything, as have
responsibility and worry added. Well, I'm
only average and haven't lost any weight
or sleep or anything. I never was better
in my life, and the men are all healthy II
one is very slightly wounded he goes to the
hospital and gets good care; also if he is
sick Or tired out. Remember, it is the peo-
pie at home who are to be pitied, not u.s.
The worst I've gone through since I've
been in the Marine Corps was summer be-
fore last in Quantico So much for that.
Don't think that because I go twenty.
four hours without food or make forced
march that I'm to be pitied. I'm not, be-
cause when / do get some monkey meat it
tastes like chicken, and when | do go to
bed l feel as though | were in feather
bed and | enjoy it twice as much.
War is hell all right, but if fellow gets
bumped off he doesn't suffer; it is his
family. If he gets blighty, he is hsppy;
if he is manned for life, he is out of luck
But the percentage of the last is small So
don't feel sorry for me, but let me feel
sorry for you.
I can see the hero in the magazine story
staggering forward the shells bursting
around him, his parched tongue sticking to
his throat, men falling on right and left
something he knows not what driving him
on, on and on to his objective; he falls; he
gets up again, he prays for a pickle TO
quench his thirst; he falls again and
bruises his knees; he tears his flesh on
blackberry bush, etc, etc. You know the
type. 1t is lot of rot, enS if any one tells
you that that was his experience, you
recommend for him bread and milk diet