The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-05-23
AN ENCOURAGING LETTER
FROM THE FRONT

Rev. Gilbert A. Ottmann has lust
received the following letter from a
friend who is with the Second Divis-
ional Signal Company with the Brit
ISL army in France.
France, April 23rd, 1918.
Dear Friend:-I received your
letter dated March 18th, a few days
ago. Evidently 1 have not received
one Of your letters, while some of
mine have gone astray. know that
two went down, as the mail lost be-
tween certain dates have not been
published. Since November l have
written at much shorter intervals,
and have never exceeded three weeks
between letters. Of course, I can.
not set any special time in which to
write. If | could you would know
just when they were lost. | think
it is wonderful the amount of mail
we do get when one looks at the
chances of it's not getting through.
Yes, | occasionally come across
some of the boys in the u. S. Army.
l was talking to a young engineer
from Boston a few days ago. There
is party of U. S. Engineers work
ing by US, so you see that l see the
familiar uniform quite often, and l
hope to see some familiar faces among
them some of these days. The time
will soon be here when the weight of
the American forces will be felt by
the German, and, if | mistake not,
at the critical time. He is making
his big effort now, and | firmly be-
lieve that it is doomed to fail. | can
not see it otherwise. He may gain
land at tremendous cost, | guess that
he may get all he wants of that at our
price, but that is not going to win the
war for him, so long as he does not
break through, and we are all firmly
determined that he shall not do that.
If he did it would not affect the spir-
it's of the troops any. Time is an
| important factor in the game that is
not to be overlooked, and l believe
that through the stubborn resistance
of the Allied troops, time is against
the enemy. Every week gained
means so many more troops against
him.
| At times the situation must look
! bad to you so far away from opera
tons, and it will at times cause
worry. But | can surely say that
one and all of us here feel confident of
final victory. The war is not over
by any means yet. The real thing
hes just started, and the Allies have
yet to be heard from. I have talked
with boys from different branches of
the service who have been through
the thickest of it all and the only
thing they tell about is the way they
moved down Germans-just tickled
to death at the chances they got to
do this. We have not been out of
it by any manner of means, though
we did not get into the real thing.
got ten hours sleep in five days,
and did more marching than for some
time, and we are ready for anything
that may come along.
Naturally there is lot of talk
about the U. S. troops going in, and
| tell you there is a lot expected of
them, and the people feel confident
that they will measure up to expec-
tations.
Today is a splendid day, warm,
the sun. It surely feels good to be
out, it is so much warmer than any
we have had for some time. The
last few days were cold and clouded,
with lots of rain, and an occasional
furry of snow. The night have
been cold, and, when clear, frosty. i
think we are due for some good warm
weather now. The country back of
the line is taking on green hue, the
leaves are showing up on the trees
and the grain is well above ground
| hope that you receive the photo
graph that l sent you from England
about Feb. 10th. If you did not
please let me know and / vii arrange
for another to be sent.
An old chum of mine is with the
Salonika forces I used to send
him Bull Durham tobacco, but am
unable to get it for him now, and am
not allowed to send tobacco or ciga-
rettes from here. / understand that
they cannot get cigarettes there often
so am wondering if you would help
me out by sending some. If so here
| is his address. As you know, | do
not smoke, but l realize what it must
be like where he is without it. It is
bad enough here where it is only once
in a while that the boys have to go
without. They go around as if they
had not friend in the world.
I will write you again soon. / am
keeping fit and in good health, getting
plenty of exercise, with q game of
football once in while, so have moth.
| ing to complain of. Write me.
With sincere regards to Mrs Ott-
man and yourself, l am
Sincerely yours, Bert.