Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1918-01-31
LETTER FROM
BRENNAN DOUGLASS

/.
Dear Brother and All
Hello to all and how are you
getting along on this day? just
got through with a little nap AFT
er having been exposed to a big
turkey feed. think will survive,
although l have q pain some
where" near my equator. It ia
now about 3 p. m. and am in the
~. The place is we'll filled and
they all seem very talkative Il
guess they got a small piece OF
toikcy) | will say now that
received your welcome letter OF
November 9th only two days ago.
To be sure, was very glad to
hear from you again. l am sorry
that you think am not writing
often enough. as try to write 10
one of you each week or near
abouts.
Yes, you were right in your
suggestions that was in the
trenches, but not until two days
after you wrote the letter. All Of
our bunch came out in fine shape
and also wiser. One Of our bunch,
Julius NJ, was quite near tough
luck, as there was q whole pla-
toon in his company that were
either captured. wounded OR
killed. He happened to be off
duty at that time. so is now able
TO tell of it.
To be sure, | had some very e1-
citing times and experiences.
would like to tell you much. hut
am unable; but will try to give
YOU an idea of it a little.
On our way up to the trenches
in trucks, we passed through two
towns which had been leveled.
Hardly complete wall Of build
ing remained standing, let alone
a house. | don't know how they
were wrecked Il mean by what
kind of hombardmcnt) II sure
made me feel that the war has
made parts of France a grave
ward 1t reminded me much O.?
pictures of ruined towns had
seen in the states. Occasionally
you could see few people look
ing over the ruins, or perhaps
some stray cats that had found
that they could now live without
molestation, except for the rats.
But we didn't stop here. In one
place it seemed that some power
had protected a huge church,
which was unframed, although
there were only about four OF five
buildings left in town. Our stay
in the trenches proved TO be very
strenuous, for 12-hour guards on
outposts was a common duty for
many. AS | am in the captain's
group, my duties at the trenches
were the carrying of messages and
bunk fatigue. On our second
night in the trenches, certain
things happened so that l had to
go to battalion headquarters with
a message. 1t was then about 10
p. m. and the night was very dark.
had not yet become very we'll
acquainted With all the crooks and
turns, or in other words, l wasn't
hep to it all. But that could not
be helped, SO | started out after
having received orders, on the
chase. The previous week had
been accompanied with an abund-
ance of rainfall, hence much mud
and water. | had not gone far
until fell into she'll hole. This
proved to be a good wallowing
hole and | almost lost my bear
lngs in the mixup. managed
to get out and hurry on. 1t
seemed that all the entanglements
and holes walked into my way, so
would be sure and meet them
all. The distance Of about five
eighths of a mile, was made. how
ever, in double quick time. Upon
arriving, the major asked me how
long it took for me TO get there.
| said. "Oh. about ten minutes. :"
He said I'd do. Later, under fav-
orable conditions, went over the
same rounte. and to my surprise,
it took me about 10 minutes. So
you see that ones Imagination
can be very badly upset by few
shells bursting around you.
This probably don't seem much
to read, but it's another thing to
do. We received two meals per
day while there. and assure you
we were always ready for our
"slum. We had plenty to eat
and sure enjoyed it. Our sleep
ing quarters were dugouts. Ours
was on the side Of slope and we
We're only about 40 feet under the
sod. Our hunks were in double
tiers and two high. Two men
could sleep III each bunk. The
lower hunks We're about three OF
four inches above water. It
seemed like we We're living on a
pond. This was caused by @
spring that would fill up the dug
out quite ways. The fellows