The Little River news., 1918-12-25
FROM WEAVER BRAKEMAN
Wilton Boy Writes Interesting .Ac-
 count of Fighting in France.

ny PcI ILlISSlOu Ol J. II. bdrkInan OI Wilton we are able to print most in jteresting letter from his son, Sergeant Weaver Barkman, who has been in some of the severe lighting in France. He has made good, and his friends at home will be proud of his record.
 Convalescent Camp A. P. o. 909, November 26, 1918. Mrs J. H. Barkman and family. My Dear Mother and Father: l As am not otherwise employed just now I will write you all few lines.
 This leaves me in the very best of health and I sincerely trust that you all are enjoying the same good health l em still connected with the con- valescent camp and am serving in the { capacity of Sergeant Major" of bat l talion. I served ss First Sergeant of the company for two months and was promoted last week to the rank of Sergeant Major.
 I have not heard from Lambert yet, but am sure that he is sll right, and that he has written to me but ss the mail system is rather contested over here it never reached me. | I thought I was a "goner" when I saw him last, as I was not only "gass- ed" but had si terrible case of Span ish Flu certainly hope that he has received some of my letters, as know he thought my case doubtful when I i left him.
 Quite a lot of the censorship hlas been removed from our letters lately, so can give you vague idea of whsf. we have been through
 I left him on the front line around Foul France and they went lover the top" the next morning. Going over the top certainly has it's thrills, es- pecislly to the man who has never | been before. But it came to be daily occurance to us for long time, I could never describe just how the trick is done, on paper, but I am com ling home some time, and I'll take great delight in gathering around the
 old fireplace" and telling you all about it.
 We he'd not been in this country hardly month until we were thrown into the muddy trenches And such a life, you never would imagine that a living being could live through. l We were shelled, gassed, and bomb ed from above.
 , We thought it reasonably nice when they first began to shell us with few shells once every hour or two, but when the big guns got busy and be- gan to throw entire Boundaries over at us, the existance of the entire out fit looked doubtful
 We'll, all of that sounds tough. I have had my comrades killed almost in my arms, seen them gassed and die right before my own eyes, and those sights will ever remain before my eyes even though I live a thousand years. But the after math of the story , is tougher from a. mental standpoint. | Every man who comes out of drive can relate at least a hundred times when he almost lost his life and as result his nerves are completely shattered. His spirit is gone, his nor ale wrecked and his entire mental system is a mass of ruins. 1 But thanks to that Noble Institution the American Red Cross, who have saved the lives of thousands upoR thousands of our boys.
 They nurse us end bring back our health to us, that so shortly seemed to us could never return. We'll, the bloody war is over.
 The Hun is whipped and we know that better than the Americans at home do.
 No leniency will the Hun ever re- Iceive from me.
 The first German I ever killed had both hands up in the air lss high as he could stick them, but I was so ex- cited, that killed him anyway, anc that night I could not sleep over thinking of it. But learned latef that it was an old game fof theirs.
 They worked every scheme under the sun to kill us, and when 1 saw my friends being killed, on either side of me, all on account of Huns treach- cry, swore would never show one, any mercy whatever. (And I stuck to my wordD
 We'll I would like to write more, but as might cause the censor some worry over such a long letter, I will close. Trusting that l may see you
 Hy- " ,sv0