Milford chronicle., 1918-12-20
Verdun. France.
November u. 1918.

Dear Mother:
Wen! PEACE is here. What blessings
and cheer those words Will bring 70 hu-
manityl VICTORY. What thrill oils
every ssul In the Allied Nations RE
VENICE For the mighty have fallen.
What satisfaction 10 those noble spirits
who have striven all these, ,long four years
for success. And AMERICA What a
pride dlls the heart OF every American
who can now look the world in the face
and saa The world is safe, and the
world SGows that II was the unsurpassa-
BILE. spirit dash and determination Of !
America that swept everything before
/ them and brOugh about this world peace.
The war is over. II seems too good to be .
| true We knew Il was coming. We who I
have been fortunate enough to be In con-
stant contact with the enemy have seen |
all the signs that point toward one re-
suit The world never knew. but the |
18th Of July was a critical moment The I
enemy was at Chateau Thierry. only 40 I
miles from Paris. They attacked with /
az their Hun forces. We gave a little /
| ground as we were greatly Outnumbered I
| The French advised US TO retreat more,
but our General said. NO The American
| Army never retreatsi" And then 10 the
surprise Of the French he sent back his
answer. We will attack" And attack
we did With one Division OF troops be-
tween the Germans and Paris. you should
have see America aroused. II was wild.
ferocious bunch Of men that charged the
famous Prussan Guard that day in July.
and Il was fear that filed the hearts OF
the Germans. They had never seen such
fighting before. They couldn't stand IT.
It broke their spirit. After that it was
a steady. persistent plug We did not
give them a minutes rest. They could
not stand it, Their natural Characters
tics ruled their impulses-brave in sue
cess towards in defeat. You know the
result God is just. He has ruled it to
be 50. and so shall it be- And 10 think
Of the brazen ignorance Of the stupid
overbearing German race. a race whose
soldiers had the impudence TO wear on
their belts "Gott mitt uns" or God with
us What a blessing TO humanity that
such a cultured" race shall not rule the
world
Peace and rest. You who have worked
and sacrificed and prayed know what it
will mean 70 you all at home. You know
what il will mean 70 the world. but only
those who have lived. or rather existed.
during all these weeks and months, sleep
{ ing in dug-outs. half full OF water, lying
in shell holes. going for long periods with
out food. living for week after week
without even taking our clothes OF. and
. burying our comrades day after day won
p dering who will be next and praying that
something happen" 70 end the awful
slaughter Of mankind. will appreciate the
) true meaning OF peace. Our hearts told
) us that we were right. ana we knew God
r was with us so we kept going. Never
falter. never doubt. Day and night we
( worked with the knowledge that. tired
D as we were. the Huns were even more
tired. Il seems like dream when look
< back at those awful days and nights when
! we were struggling through those shell
5 swept fields and woods, wondering
y whether we would reach our objective or
j. not. I'd like 10 forget Il all. but I'll never
4 forget those noble souls who were less
fortunate than ! and who gave their lives
p that the world might live In Peace. But
e thank God their work was not IN vain.
+ hts a funny feeling to be standing or talk
g ing with a comrade and the next hour to
d see him laid away TO rest. II is differ
e ent feeling than I ever imagined 1t would
b as in private life but the feeling that you
. must do more to atone for what has been
n done I've seen gun crews wiped out by
a German shell. and I've heard the yells
e Of defiance as the other gun crews dou-
t bled their activity and increased our fire
e until the enemy was destroyed. That was
I. their revenge and that is what our life
q has been. day after day, ever since last
summer. There have been yTmes wnen
y Il was hard work to write a cheerful let
ter but why should you at home know
s OF our hardships? II had 10 be done. II
e was not pleasant work. but l thank God
I've been able to do my share and come
It through all right. It Is a great sausfac-
I ton. now that 1t is over. and have al
d ways been happy IN the knowledge thai
d you realized and understood and looked
al everything as you should. / know
J. YOU have worried but never could have
II surmised it from your letters. They were
e. always so full OF cheer and consolation
" and now il is all over and before long vi
.e will be looking forward to home and al
that IL means II is only question oi
e. time now-just a matter Of detail o.
Il course there will be things to be settled
re but the 32nd Division. or what Is left oi
10 il. should be among the first, if not h'
le first, Division sent home. What feeline
x Of satisfaction 10 belong 10 such Di'
8 vision.
re This is Tuesday evening. Al hrinG
le ceased at eleven O'Clock yesterday morn
IN ing. We fired right up to the time anC
I So did the Germans. We are now await
IT ing orders Have no idea OF wnat thel
In will be. Probably go back to rest binet'
I in some village and await the futur'
X events Everybody is happy. When W.
N received the official news, succeeded II
Ia getting some champagne from a French
le man and gave a little to each one Of M
le men. and we all drank a toast to Ameri
ID ca and Peace. am enclosing the abe
re from the bottle Save It, as II will brins
N back wonderful reconections. The French
l are as happy as can be. They are thank
lg full to the Americans. their big brother
" as they call them.
a ..,,, mall I lrnoxg Won a 2