The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1918-07-26
LETTERS FROM OUR
LADS over THERE
"In France, June II, 1918.

"In France, June II, 1918.
"Mrs. A. A. Foss: Just received
your letter and I assure you that | was
sure tickled to hear from you, so here
goes for few lines to my Athena
friends.
"Hullo Folks: How goes the war
over there? l am now with the Fight
ing Tanks, the highest branch of the
service, and folks, these Tanks are the
stuff. l assure you all that this life
is much more exciting than the Avia-
tion; but, on the other hand. if they
ever let the enlisted men fly over here,
will endeavVr to transfer back as |
would rather fly than eat. Have been
driving one of these tanks for month
now and / like it fine. Have been
over here six months now and l have
already been over the greater part of
France. Had the pleasure of seeing
Paris some time ago and it sure is a
beautiful city.
"Folks, am there in French now,
for with the help of a dictionary and a
couple of hundred stock gestures.
can say nearly anything. l have even
tried to talk to friend Mademoiselle
about the war, but that is pretty diff
cult. because she gets so excited and
the words go by SO fast that only old
friends are recognized. When she
starts on that theme stop listening
and concentrate on her expression, and
'oui, ami, or mon, non, as l think
the occasion demands.
"Am writing this letter on an old
table, battered and dingy, which was
no doubt used a couple of centuries ago
by some fat old monk, as he sat and
'thunk, and later by some petty offic-
er of Napoleon's army.
"Folks, the French are wonderful
people. Their education, courtesy,
dignity and reserve are a revelation.
Their open-hearted friendliness, their
admiration for America and their sense
of humor have captivated the hearts
of every one of US, who have had any
thing to do with them They fight
and fight like hell. After over three
years of defeat and disappointment
and terrible losses, their spirit and
morale are unbelievable.
have been over here six months,
as told you before and have been
over the greater part of France, only |
would love to have seen France before
this great catastrophe. Then ] could
have seen miles of trees that lined the
roads; would have remembered the
little white houses that were every
where, and the beautiful fields and
gardens; and we could also have seen
the little kids going to school, But,
alas. we have come to the end of that
beautiful world. The sword has gashed
the face of France. The trees are
withered and blasted, the avenues are
no more; the roofs of the houses are
broken. the walls are falling down.
the rooms are heaps of rubbish. the
people have gone. Think of the people
who live on the fringe of the war-the
poor people on the stricken edge of
France-the old Mother whose days
are nearly over. pulling cabbages in
her garden almost at Ypres; the old
man who picks up petrol cans, flattens
them out and patches up his broken
house with them. The French have
nerve and are very patient and, fur
thermore, they take US boys into their
homes and treat US as though we were
one of the family.
II am very busy tanker these
days. If there are any of my Athena
friends who want to SEA Berlin, join
the Fighting Tanks, as these creeping,
snorting devils are the stuff. Friends.
write me letter now and then and |
assure you all that same will be great
ly appreciated. Very truly yours,
Roy L. Zerba.
311th Tank Center, A. P. 0. TIA, 1925
Battalion, Co. A., A. 4. F.