The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1918-10-02
From the Boys
Leroy G. Koch, France

The two following letters were re-
ceived by Mr.. and Mrs. Gust Koch, Of
this city, from their son, Leroy. One
was written while on the water and
the other after his arrival in France.
Somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean.
August, 1918.
Dear Folks:
Well, as we are allowed to write on
the ship I thought ia drop you few :
fine and dandy and hope you are the
same. Well, dear folks, 1t is just week
ago since it was mothers birthday. :.
The ocean is pretty good sized all
of it. / haven't seen whale yet, and
don't expect l will, but have seen some
pretty good sized fish. = We, have been
having good weather so far so don't
know yet how the boat will rock when
there is storm, but will probably find
out before l land. To tell the truth, |
as all the mail is censored, SO the less
person writes the better he is off.
Haven't heard any war news at all
while ! have been on the boat, but will
no doubt when L land. n.- r. g.
I saw several boys that I met at
Jefferson barracks the day we left the
U. S. A.
don't suppose will have much time
to write letters after | land, but you
can tell everybody hello. You will have
to excuse poor writing as the boat is
rather shaky.
From your son and l brothe z Koch
F. R. S. s11, Amer E. F. -
"A. P. o. so5: ,,ouo =, r.onoo H.
...t.. August, 1918.
Dear Folks: r.
1 know you are watching pretty regu-
larly for the mail man to come, so l
will drop you a few lines now that I am
here / landed safely and am feeling
fine, never felt better in my life. We
are not allowed to write any dates, but
since mothers birthday, so you will
know what day it is and 1 guess no one
else can figure it out.
France is pretty nice country, as
much as I have seen. They have hedges
growing around on high piles of ground
as those at home It sounds quer to us
to hear the French talk, but lots Of
them can talk the American language
money yesterday so I am beginning to
know what a0two cent piece is, etc, al
so francs and centimes. | traded some
American money in for French money,
but it is mostly handled in bills and
looks useless to me, but / will have to
get used to it
| don't know what they raise mostly
over here, but they raise lots of stuff to
make wines and other drinks. The peo-
pie wear wooden shoes. They surely
seem to like stone. and concrete build
lngs as you seldom see wooden one
1t is a little cooler over here, as it is
now the fall of the year of course. The
little Trench children stand around us
and sing Hail, hail, the gangs all
here in the American language, and
the little fellows ask for money. 1 was
surprised too to see little boqs come
down the streets smoking a pipe or Gig
arctic. and they like to get tobacco
from the American soldiers.
/ wrote you while on the ship and
hope you got it. will try and write at
least once a week, but don't worry about
me as will be all right. We had nice
entertainment here at the Y. NJ. C. A.
last night, which was enjoyed by all
the boys. We don't hear much about
war news here, and don't see very many
young French men. There are quite a
few women and girls, and they drive
teams instead of men, as the men have
gone to the front. l haven't seen any
Denison boys yet, but might run across
some soon: I sure would like to.
| hope this reaches you all right and
that you are all well. With love to all,
1 am, Your son,
Leroy.