Milford chronicle., 1918-06-21
FREDERICK BOY WRITES HOME.
Thursday Morning. May 9, 1918.

A"atA- ANtNAhNs a Altt FE ANANANNA 81 AAAeAAAs
letters from you that / guess / owe you
one or TWO. but to tell you the truth am
not much on writing letters. especially
as I am not very good writer and can
never think OF anything to write about.
Perhaps people think that when you so
in she army there should oe lots and lots
Of things 70 write about
However. VIII try uud think Of some
thing 20 tell you in this letter. sup
{ pose sou have heard Dad and Nom tell
abou, The way We live here. and l will
no; go into these details now. Would
say that it gets rather mopotonous eat-.
ing on; Of a mess kit" You know we
don't have dishes here. Instead we have
q metal shaped pan, something like a
shallow bowl with a cong handle on IL
which folds entirely over the front Of the
bowl This has a lid that fits on it
tightly. and inside Of this is placed a tin
knife. fork and spoon making this whole
1 kit in one piece Also a pint cup Of
aluminium. which holds a pint. with a
Icouaps.ble handle. When we eat We all
get IN line and have 1t dished out TO US.
/ II we have two or three things at a meal
1 they all run together and get mixed up,
gravy with apple sauce, or pie with cab
/ bage, an in the same dish. SO you see
we sort Of get tired Of this but in a way
we get used to H. Then too. when you
have been in the habit Of getting up
about 1870 or $500 il makes a lot Of diff
| ference when you have 10 crawl out at
80 Then after we are up we all 90
outside and form into two long lines.
We then march and run and drill for
about twenty minutes before breakfast.
This to one that has never done it is
very hard until one becomes accustomed
/ TO IT, To get up out Of bed on an empty
| stomach and run about mile on "dou-
ble time" makes you feel pretty sick in
| the lower regions, but after awhile you
get over this. After breakfast we ''pO-
1 lice up" This consists in making your
1 bed sweeping up around your bed, and
making things neat. Then l don't have
to do anything else until eight, when
re TO work. 1 quit at twelve for dinner
and go back TO work at one. Then at
( i36 the bugler blows what is known as
recall" This is for all the men to quit
work and get ready to retreat" Re
treat is the close Of the day for the ar
my About a quarter to five the squad
rons are all formed IN formation and
marched to the parade ground. There
] they pass in review before the officers
Of the post The band is playing all the
time II is grand sight-a sight that
makes the blood tingle in your veins
! a sight that makes you feel proud that
you are one Of the boys in Uncle Sans
army, the greatest army under Gods
] &c 80 "a a
world a fit place TO live into see these
| boys who have given up their ALL every
thing they own in the world-their jobs
homes. family, sweethearts. and their
| lives if need be TO do their bit. to see
them. the grandest looking bunch Of men
on earth, swing of into close formation.
/ their legs moving in unison to the
strains Of the band, their every nerve
and muscle at attention, 10 see these
! long lines OF Khaki clad bodies break in
10 the double time" and go laundering
down the field-it is a sight that makes
/ you glad you're there. There are times
when I have been homesick and blue and
sort Of felt tired Of It, but when the
time comes and the order is given 'FaH
1 in." and the band plays and we are on.
wouldn't change places with one OF
these slackers for the best job in the
country.
This generally lasts about half an hour
and after the final exercises are over
mess is ready. Mess is a meal. 1t may
! be any meal in the day, but all the same
/ it's mess. We don't have breakfast
dinner and supper in the army. We
have mess, mess, mess. three times
] Ea hne In nttn snffQn-
ron are through until the next day. We
can 90 TO town or do what We want TO-
/ l never go to town except on Saturdays
and sundays. Also about six O'Clock,
after supper or mess, We have concert
| in front Of the officers quarters. You
know the officers live in little houses of
10 themselves and the commanding Off
Ger. the highest officer at the post, has a
INttle house all 20 himself set apart from
/ the rest Of the officers. Well, the band
goes up in front Of the Colonels house,
who is al this post the commanding Off
Ger. and gives a concert each night.
/ our barracks building is directly across
/ from the officers quarters, so all we
/ have TO do If We want TO hear the band
/ play is 10 go out in front Of our bar
/ racks. and there you are. That is the
incest part Of the day. Nothing 20 do
/ but smoke OF read and sit around and
hear nice music. It makes you feel good
/ that you are in the army. And then the
next day at $3.50 the same old thing
starts over again and "over and over
again"
! "Of course. We VIII all be glad when
/ the war is over and we can come back
and be civilians again. But we won't
be back "tiu it's over, over there. " And
then Wen all come home and the ones
who have been more fortunate than the
1 rest Of us. 1 mean III e.,es who have been
over there will have all kinds Of stories
10 tell. and wen feel almost as badly as
: the poor Stacker who didn't have nerve
/ enough TO go in. We all want to go over
and when the time comes Wen be right
on the job.
/ have some good news to tell you but
! y am almost afraid TO tell it now for It
/ might not pan out. 6ut I'm going up
for commission Yes, sir; I've got a
chance 20 make application and il 1t is
accepted and I can pass 1 will be an ofti-
Ger. What do you think Of that? Our