Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1918-10-10
BUCKBOROUGH WRITES
INTERESTING LETTER
Former Alma Man, at Front.
Writes, Highly Interesting
Letter to HIS Parents.

One of the most interesting letters
from the front which The Record is
privileged TO publish is the following
from l.. Verne Buckborough, who
resided on Wright avenue when he
went into the service about a year
ago;
Somewhere in France
Hdqs. Co, Inft., A. +. F.
Dearest Mother and Dad:
1T has been an awful long time
since | have had the opportunity to
write a word home; not so long per-
haps. but it has seemed ages to me-
I'VE are in rest now, after having
been on the front line for eight days,
the line where the Americans made
themselves famous, not only for
America herself, but for the people
at large. The division that / am
with made splendid record, and the
l25th-well, we just naturally could
mt stop going-and you ought TO see
those Germans run. Our line ad-
vanced over 29 kilometers while we
were in action. They burned their
ammunition dumps as they retreated
and most very night you could see
big glares OF light against the cloudy
sky Our skies here are never clear.
"Of course this country is war
Scared, bat thank God, il all belongs
TO France now. the people God in
tended should have il. There are
unsightly sights around. but one gets
accustomed TO unusual things after
seeing bloi first hand at the front.
Within twenty feet Of where | am
writing is a dead German. Some Of
the boys are covering him up with
earth so the smell won't be so strong
as TO disturb our slumber tonight.
Souvenirs galore. | have often
dreamed of things / would like to
have, but now as see them all
around me, they are uninviting. |
detest them. A German helmet. Oh,
how | dreamed of one to send home,
but not brings a lump in my
throat that almost chokes me.
"War is a terrible thing If man
only had larger realization of Life,
We would not need all the destruction
and suffering. | can't describe it.
"Well, | suppose you are anxiously
waiting for me to tell you what we
have been doing-the band. AS per
regulation, we are stretcher bearers
in line of action, and right here let
me tell you it's mighty hard work
especially if you have big man on
the stretcher and we are going
through shell fire. When / say shell
fire. know you only have a vague
meaning of the word. It's hell again
"You remember Forest House ?
Well, he was the only one in our fam
lily that we had to leave behind, a
grave in poppy field. | will des.
cribe the incident that led up to his
death and fourteen other deaths ir
; the same place.
Rain, Oh, how it rained. The
. roads were churned to putty by the
immense traffic and walking was
hard. We had just taken our thirc
man off the field and evacuated hin
. in substantial looking dugout un
der an old building. Our aid station
was located in the same place, only
in another compartment A lot o
, fellows were there; all men of oui
, company and the band boys We wer,
? joking and having "A good time. Shell
, ing was growing lighter all the tim'
and we were taking much needed
rest. Hungry? Well that's no nam,
! for it, A Y. NJ c 4. Ford drove vi
outside the gate Of the old farm an,
how we did run out to buy som
peaches and cookies-anything sweet
"While we were waiting in line
waiting our turn to come to buy tn
eats, the Boche started shelling tn
old farmhouse again. This time the,
used a fourteen inch shell (they ar
whopers had when they explode
they send rain Of dirt and stone
three hundred feet in the air).
''The 'Y' man got considerable ex
cited and drove away in due haste
While we were cursing him under ou
I breath two more shells dropped near
! er the farmhouse. / ran inside an
was wondering what on earth
should do. grabbed Connie tn
| barber, and yelled to the other fel
lows TO beat il for something wa
going to happen. Most Of the fel
| lows dug; some remained; som