Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-20
'LOUCHIN SEES
N. D. SOLDIERS
Company M of Grand Forks
is Praised by Letter Writ
er "Over There"

Lieutenant Charles Loughin, son
of MIR. and Mrs. C. A. Loughin, 313
North Seventh street of his city, has
written a letter with news of North
Dakota boys over there" which is
the first of its kind to be received
here. -
Splendid appearance Of NJ Com
pahy OF Granu rHorks and T. company
OF Winston, cauSed much comment
among officers in France. Lieut..
Loughin states that with the adven
OF n Williston boys it was thought
trenches would have to lie dug one
foot deeper. clothes made larger and
many changes made in h regula-
tons to accommodate the North Da-
kota giants.
The letter is written Somewhere
In France" under date Of January
rs, and reads in part as follows:
- I've been living up in the
clouds for days. l have been terri
bly, busy. but 1 don't notice it, for
too much has happened. First thing
ter, the first M for ages. 1t was
dated the fifteenth of December. The
last. letter had been dated the sixth
of November n was received long
before Christmas.
THE next morning the replace
ments came. At first thought, 1 was
under he impression that North Da-
kota had moved. For months / nave
not seen a man from North Dakota
One boy in my company had once
lived there, and that was as close as
it came. Month in, month out, it had
all been the a,.
Il was to nave the first platoon in
new Company M, Goth infantry. Lieu
tenant Mcclure. my 'bunkie,' was to
hn :n oh o~ro 0P tH4 o@~-n1-y VT1
headed for the station to get our men.
First man 1 saw was a lieutenant, ap-
.parently in charge of part Of the de-
tachment. He looked strangely famil-
lar, n in a second / knew who it
was, Shorty Melchor from Fargo. I
sent a row of questions straight at
him.
"All the fellows with him were
from North Dakota. 1 couldn't be-
licve him at first. 1t sounded too i'm
possible. They got out of the box
cars and lined up ready for the dis
tribution. First thing l laid eyes on
was a detachment from Company NJ,
Grand Forks. The second l could
sneak off, l went back to where they
were to get in a couple of words.
What it is like to see part of home
say.
But that was only part of the aus
for my high spirits. Battalion COM
manders were there to direct picking
ing of men allotted to each 1t has
been a long. long time since any II
Of those officers has see such a line
of men. and. they not only admitted
it. but commented on it NJ are still
commenting on it.
they were far above what has been
known here as No. l material. NJ
company of Grand Forks, while aver
aging smaller in size than the rest,
showed better training and more ex-
p%erience. E company from Williston,
J believe. vas a row of giants. 1t
was a standing that all
quartermasters' clothes in future must
be considerable larger all around,
hat all trenches in future will be one
foot deeper than regulation provides
at present. that all pack mules will be
sent back to the states rs unnecessary
equipment, and that the duties they
performed, such as carrying machine
guns. large ammunition cases, III
he performed by these men as light
duty when they are at rest back of
the liEe-that they be equipped with
one-inch guns instead of service rifles
and that where regulations call for
pistol. an automatic rifle with saw
ed-off barrel be furnished.
Major. Roosevelt moved his allot-
ment of si%X-foOters and over, off to
his town in a hurry, SO that no II
could change his mind and deprive
him of them. When I got my sixty.
I dug out for the same reason.
Every day I realize more how
lucky I am. The platoon I used to
have was on an average. larger than
any infantry platoon in the regiment.
We always were picked or for guard
platoon on nights and days when en-
citement was imminent. l was sorry
ito leave Company L. One goes
through enough here sometimes to
make a. day count for years as friend
ships grow. But I know now I'll have
more intense interest with my new
platoon. 1t will be because I am
taking them through from the start
and because they are from North Da-
kota~
MY old platoon has lost it's prize
boast. I've got the longest row of
huskies they ever laid eyes on. They
all are apparently Built to Stay
Nearly all Of them are from the west
ern part of the state. I know l rec
ognized one ma sure. and it was
Robertson Of I4angdon. We held a
big pow-wow."
Lieut.. Charles Loughin.
Somewhere in France
January 25. 1918.
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