Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-04-18

VA BAnidy aAA 40 bcllS gwen nluc pun
Lefty In the state. 1t Is ono Of tho
most striking that has come from any
source. The committee prefaces tho
letter with these words:
"The following letter from young
American captain to his mother shows
the spirit, the courage and the resolve
of our men over there.
sShall we not do our part, when they
meet death smihag7 Shall we not
stand behind themf"
This is the message SAINT home:
France, Dec IS, 1917.
Ny Darling Mother:
It Is al q little hopeless and use
less, but here goes again as IL Is
Christmas, and that should bring luck.
Every now and then . long looked
for letter arrives and then little joy
and then silence.
am just back from sout there
and how good q little French room and
fire seem once more, and water to
wash In, lots Of It, and clean sheets,
and hot food and greatest Of all the
silence Of small town.
I have clean clothes cnce more,
nothing In them but me and today Is
Christmas and I should be thankful.
~Peace on Earth good Will towards all
mankind" God, what Joke, but some
day peace Is obliged to arrive and
things become normal.
Don't mind If I rave IN this letter
little. have so much to tell, so very
little can tell, and in all probability
you will never receive 1t, 80 here goes.
| Ages ago 1t seems / arrived over
here and have lived about six lives
and there will be no let up until the
Boche is whipped, and he is hard
devil to whip. I have seen him In
all his majesty, his dirt and filth, have
seen the remnant of his handiwork
| God help them) heard his hymn of
| hate, seen him on the battle, field,
heard his cannon roar, his machine
have been knocked down and cold by
his shells, watched his star shells turn
the world green, have seen him rot on
no mans land, have seen him In all
possible forms and conditions, and al
| though he Is a good soldier We have
him whipped. He Is q fighter and q
good one, but he has met better one
than he is. have seen my men after
four days with no sleep, In mud almost
to their waist, lousy, q little hungry,
very, very tired and in place no sane
man would like to be, crack Jokes
when shell hit little too far of,
laugh at death, and wounded, wonder
how long it viii be before they could
return to hit at him once more. He
will never appreciate the spirit Of our
troops, for what the Boche doesn't pos
sess he can't understand, and the spirit
of our men Is something he will never
possess.
There was an affair ON the 18th Of
a certain month (look at your Army
and Navy Journal) and being on the
18th of course was in 1t. The jour-
nal has it wrong-things get twisted
going from here to America, but IN
that little affair saw one man go with
smile on his face into pure death and
he knew It. What the Boche had In
tended for big thing ended in a farce
for them. A few, very, very few of
us whipped hell out Of God knows
how mSny Of them We have got them
whipped, Mother, and they will soon
find it out.
Listen, no one who has not beer
under shell fire can know anything
about it q have an overcoat or whai
is left Of it, I wish you could see)
but have seen my company under i
and for more than day of incessant
firing and I have yet to see one Of
them show any signs of cowardice
They are afraid, of course; everyone
is afraid a little, but when the noise
of bursting shells was SO great that
would have to lean close and yell tt
be heard, they always had smile an(
joke in reply.
1 have told you before that I an
q captain, and my company of $50 mel
are just the best in the world. The,
like me and I idolize them, and W,
certainly pull together. God help tn
Boche when we hit him. for we won
We have given him small sampl'
of the meal he has yet to eat, and h
Is going to strangle over it.
"War Is He'll"
It is hard to write of things yol
could not and cannot understand. Yo'
read songs about ~shot and shell fly
I ingD and it sounds pretty to music