The Robesonian., 1918-01-28
SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE"
Letter From Former Lumberton
Boy--Three Other Lumberton
Boys in Same Regimen!-Unole
Sam Cares for HisSammies "Ov-
er There" Well-ChristmasTree
for Orphans of France.

for Orphans of France. I
roThe Editor of The Robesonian:
Being an old subscriber to The Rob r
esonian and formerly a citizen of (
Robson county, which / will always! '
claim as home, and Of course beingi G
very much interested in that dear lit 9
tie city Of Lumberton, where l lived t
for number Of years l thought per-
haps | should write you a short let
ter from "Over Here, Somewhere in
France. s
l came over here one day in mid
summer, last July, 1917, and am
Of one of the best regiments (
in the U. S. expeditionary force in
France, organized and trained in At
lanta, Ga. This regiment, the 18th U.
S. engineers (Ry.) left for France
among the first, and l am very proud
to say that included on the regimentall
Privates Furman Williams, 7. o.
Edens and J. D. Morrison and Sgt. G.
w. Thorndyke. Mr.. Edens and are
in the same company and of course
we all call it the best company in the
regiment and l believe myself, having
been formerly soldier and member
Of regiment Of U. S. regulars, from
1911 to 1914. in time of peace, and |
from the experience have had think
it the best company in the regiment |
and am now enclosing with this q |
menu and roster Of the company just
to show you how we'll Uncle Sam is
caring for his Sammies over here.
plenty of good warm clothes and all one
can eat and place to "flop", so what
more could we wish for?
Christmas passed off nicely and
was enjoyed by all. Nearly every Of
ficer and soldier of the 18th regiment
Of engineers contributed a sum of
money to be spent for presents, which
were all placed on a large Christmas
tree and all the children Of France
for miles around gathered here to en-
| JOY the day with us. And, believe me,
they did. Most of them are orphans.
made so by the war, and such grand
fete was surely given welcome by
them.
Now, Mr. Sharpe, will close soon,
being in somewhat uncomfortable
place to write. | trust you will excuse
the bum writing and pass up all mis-
takes. And the most important thing
of all, won't you please send the dear
old paper, The Robesonian, to the ad-
dress below and greatly help fellow
pass away many a lonesome hour ?
And also If you care to you may pub
lish this, after making the necessary
corrections
Thaking you in advance and wish
ing the best Of luck, to The Robson
ian and its officers from soldier
somewhere in France.
SGT. G. w. THORNDYKE
December 26, 1917.
, P. S.-Formerly of Lumberton, N
+ c., where I was employed by Mr. G
M. Whitfield Of the firm Of Whitfield
= q French.
!, Following is the menu, with fore
= word about the company:
II MENU
Christmas Dinner
II Somewhere in France
1917
I'll Company c.
, 18th Regiment U. S. Engineers
Our Company
A hundred and seventy men; grow
:. and matured. Men loving peace infin
itely more than war-men with tn
= responsibilities of life and work an
progress resting upon us; men wh
e with aching hearts had turned AVA
= from home, and all that is dear t
= man; and who, at the first s'Assembly
fell into line, and turned our faces t
Il tho East
Only few months ago-and bae
there in Goods Own Country, Y
were called together, and receive
- what, to many Of us, was our fir
a training in arms at Atlanta, Georgi'
y U. s. c.
- The shores of our country fade
: away from US one day i'm mid -summe
k-we left the rail, and settled dow
~ for the log zig-zagging course acro'
=. =. the Atlantic, big ships full Of us. De
- after day and night after night tt
rs rs huge gray ships ploughed along al
ce =: one evening, as we neared the shor
~ u of Britain, there came dashing out
~ the East the low, racing shapes
eu s the Little Gray Mice Of the Sea
H. their signal lights winking a WELDON
1hay to the ships they had come to guar
ne ne We landed in England; and aft
se few days rest, we tidied ourselv
" u up, and did what what no other fe
lg he eign troops had done for hundreds
~ years! We marched in force, and q
ndg der arms thru the streets of Londo
u ,us Eyes to the front, we swung thru
ne ne crowded streets, and hundreds Of the
ns sands Of loyal Britons cheered &C
Glory" as it fluttered and snapped
IKE the head Of company C of the 17th (
gineers (Ry.).
It is said that the British are !
given to demonstrations, yet we
nj call the flowers pressed upon US,
, 0. recall the cries, "God bless you, Sa
= my''and" "Hurrahfor Old Glory. .Weln
us. that they shouted themselves hoa1
ent and then tried to shout some mo
eSs Maybe we managed to keep our ia
cn- straight, but there was more than
aSo wet eye among usI
And then the Channet-and Fra
g and the work we came to do.
And now it is Christmas! Think
j Of other days, we cannot help be
a little sad, but then there are OF
. days to come. IF we live these OF
days, We shall be repaid for all t
= we are giving up: and if we are ca
8 Beyond, We go, as did that OF
ona of N s-knoXine, that we have 81