Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1918-11-15
Somewhere in Franco in the Ar
gonno Forest. October 18th.
Dear Uncle Tommy:

| 'Sar uncle Tommy:
| Your nice long letter received and
thoroughly enjoyed You must do il
again. We started the biggest often
Sivc of all on the 18th of Scplcmbcr
and have been at il eve: since. You
can see from the papers Just what
we have accomplished. Ii ccrtninlv
has been even,ful days for me end
Tor nj of us Some Of the ficrccst
lighting of tho war has taken place
since. We have been successful nll
The way through and now il is only u
matter of time before the Huns will
be squcaliug,
10" cannot picture the misery and
dcsolation they have LEFT behind We
are now in territory occupied by the
NcfmanS Tor the past three wears
MOI IL house stands, nothing bui the
crunbllhE walls, mute testimony of
the havoc they have wrought and Tn,
standards by which they fight. Most
OF the stories you hear are not The
brain storm of some ovcr-yenlpus
writer, hut actual facts aud all true
They arc treachcrous, cruel, cold
blooded and inhuman 20 The cor.
There is nothing they would not Ga
ana no means unjuItiiiub,c whoa II
certain end il in vicw.
For the past three weeks this nm.
been more or less open warfare. Wa
Hehertiiy have no cover and trust To
luck and their bad workmanship. We
nave been continually shclicd, but
th"rc nave been very few fatalities
l;ohader ng the circumstances. If we
thodphI about what each ahull thai
we would hear come whistlirn oyer
would mean To us we could not sLrnh
IT. There seems 10 be a mutual IN
dcrsthhdinE not To mention the hits
but to laugh and joke at The misses
Every night ut mess we drink n
silent toast TO the one who has po,d
the supreme sacrifice and to the next
one that dies. Too much praise can
not be given our boys. Have MS vel
to see man shirk II duty rcuuirin,s
courage md there are no better iphl
crs in the world Thcrc are hundreds
and hundreds of tales Of personal he.
roiSm but no one seems to think Of
That, IL is just in the days work nnu
failure to toe the mark would he the
only cause of comment.
Have had some very exciting cxpo
riencca myself and necessarily some
very close calls, hut it would take
pages to relate them. Nearly every
day we see some wonderful air bat
ties and you can have some idea if
you will picture the most thrilling
moving picture you have ever seen,
and raise il to the Nth degree. One
who has been over here and been thru
the baptism of fire will never forget
and they are bound to come back
changed men. You cannot see so
much suffering and bravery and not
be touched. Every day happening.
now would have called for medal at
the beginning Of the war and now il
passes unnoticcd.
or course there will be very many
homes left dcsolate and many boy
who will never return but they died
game and met death facing it. My
opinion is that the end is in sight,
and it is only matter of time now.
Our only terms would be uncondi-
tional surrender and we are willing
to fight on and on until that end is
reached. Duty calls so must close.
Love to the family.
Yours airectiOnately, DENNY.
To Rev. T. III. Campbell, Tazcwell
Somewhere in France, Oct. is.
Dear Aunt:
will drop you few lines to let
you hear from me. This leaves me
well and hope it will find you and
your family the same.
Well, auntic, | have been over here
since June 18th and am well salts
field so far. think | will be back in
The States before long for Xmas any
way, for the Huns are not going To
last much longer, and l don't care
how soon it is over for it is the old
U. s. for me. But still do not think
anything about il, for | am here I'M
til it is over with, so it is better not
to think about things back home.
have gotten no mail since coming ov-
cr here.
! You ought to hear me talk to the
French people. | can talk very well
now and am learning more every day.
This is a beautiful country here, but
it is hundred years behind. People
here when they take wagon out,
they put one horse behind the other.
Sometimes you can see one horse and
one COW in wagon and woman
driving it. There are not very many
men here, so the women do most Of
the work. All of the buildings are OF
stone. ! have not seen frame
in so long | wouldn't know how one
looked. have learned everything
over here except to drink goat milk,
and | don't want any of that. l was
at church last night. There was
Y. M. G. a. preacher there for lot
of us boys. sure did enjoy it,
Your loving nephew, CHARLIE.
From Private Charlie Bandy, II. G..
Co. 145th Infantry, A. p. o. 1853,
A. e. f., to his aunt, Mrs. Rosa
!! Pack, Cedar Bluff, Va.