Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1918-05-10
DisCOuraging Letters Cause
DesertiOnS.

|
In recent statment the War De-
partment strongly advises against
discouraging letters to soldiers:
Recent reports from commanding
generals of certain Army divisions in
dictate that one of the fruitful causes
of soldiers absenting themselves with
out leave is the discouraging letter
from home. Such letters frequently
give alarming and exaggerated reports
Of conditions surrounding the soldiers
| family, that some member is desper-
ately i'll, that all are starving, or that
they are being in some way harassed.
In instances such letters have so
preyed upon the minds of soldiers
that they have absented themselves
without leave to go home, only to find
that conditions had been grossly eX-
aggerated.
meanwhile, the soldier has been
absent without leave-a serious mill
tar offense. His problem then be-
came one Of facing the penalty or get
ting deeper into trouble by DESERVING.
Sometimes d mans pride or fear has
led him to desert. $ Every soldier
wants to receive letters from home.
They should be frequent, cheerful,
hopeful, and appreciative of the sacri-
fee thai he is making for his coun-
try. They should be full Of family
incidents and cheerful home gossip.
They should protect him from the
trifing alarms and the small annoy
ances Of everyday life. They should
encourage him by giving full conf
dence that his family and his friends
stand behind him in the great enter
prise he has undertaken.
"The value of such letterslto soldiers
is beyond estimate. The harm that
discouraging letters from home do to
him is clearly indicated by reports at
The Adjudtant Generals Office.
Here are some extracts from recent
reports of division commands:
" L find, also, that many Of the fami-
les of the men write TO them Of I'M
satisfactory conditions at home, sick
ness of relatives, and how mhcn vari-
Gus members of the family wish to
see the soldier These letters, SO far
as sickness, ETC., are concerned, are
often oyerdrawn, but, combined with
the home sick feeling, often result in
the man going absent without leave
and finally being dropped as az eserter.'
g I am now through the neWspap-
ers Of Indiana and through lecturers
in Kentucky, whom we are able to
reach through the Office of the adju-
tant general of that State, en- deavor-
ing to advise the home people of these
men Of the seriousness of these often
ses and that their Efforts should be
to assist every man in performing the
duty that has devolved on him, to
tighten his worries and, above ali, to
regard desertion in it's proper light.
II shall also atts mpt to get the
West Virginia papers to institute a
campaign of education along similar
lines
ga division inspector submitted the
following in this connection:
g while stationed at Columbus
Barracks, Ohio, last year was a mem
Der of general coa-t-martial that
tried approximately 100 enlisted men
for desertion from National Guard re-
giments stationed on the border. /
believe I am safe in saying that at
least 80 per cent of them gave as their
reason for desertion the fact that they
had received letters from home to the
effect that a wife, sister, or mother
: was either dying, very i'll, or in desti-
tute circumstances, and begged the
man to come home at once. Many of
the men admitted that when they
arrived home they found that the
writer of the letter had exaggerated
conditions
"Many young soldiers, fresh from
home, suffer from homesickness, no
matter how Army officers may try to
make their surroundings pleasant and
comfortable and provide proper
amusements. Extraordinary meas
ures have been taken by the War De-
partment during the past year to keep
the young soldier actively engaged
while in camp with sports, amuse-
ments, and comforts that whole
some psychology might be sustained.
Still, a type Of soldier will yearn for
home and fall into a brooding mood.
1t is obvious how harmful to him and
to the service discontented letter
from home might be. :