Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-08-07
WITH THE AMERICANS IN FRANCE

| WI IL LIE AuLRlN iNS IN EhANSE
| John E. Hermann. who left Man
chester on February 23rd, 1918, to en-
ter the training camp at Camp Dodge
| has been with tlIe American Army in
France since last May. Since that
time he and other boys from Della
ware county have seen and studied the
habits and customs of the French, and
according to his last letter he and
others have tasted spring chicken as
prepared by the good women of
France. Writing to the editor of The
Democrat on July 7th, Private Her.
man tells of the manner in which he
and Roy Hunt of Earlville spent the
recent Fourth of July.
with the American EXpeditionary
Forces in France, Sunday evening,
July 7th, 1918.
Dear Brother Fred:-
Just had supper so will take few
minutes time to answer your letter Of
June 10th, which l received on July
1st You see it only took about twen-
ty days for your letter to reach me.
suppose it takes longer for my let
ters to reach you. l am feeling fine,
and hope you and the rest are we'll too
"This has been nice day, about the
warmest we have had. l went to
church this forenoon. OF course, you
know the church we have over here
is a nice shady spot under a bunch
of trees. hardly know what the in
side of church looks like.
This afternoon Roy Hunt and I
went over to village about two and
a half miles from our camp and watch
ed a ball game between teams from
two companies. I have been walking
much today, so as soon as finish this
letter I think l will hit the hay
81 suppose there was a real cele-
bration in Manchester on the Fourth,
as usual. We were all excused from
Camp on the Fourth, and enjoyed the
day very much. most of all that roast
chicken we had for dinner. The night
before the Fourth Roy Hunt, another
pail and I went out for little walk
where we saw some real nice spring
chickens running around in the yard.
We asked the lady of the house if she
would sell us one and roast it for
our Fourth of July dinner. She said
she would and told US to be sure and
come as she would have it all ready
for us, so Thursday noon when we got
there she had it all ready for three
hungry soldiers. The three Of us soon
made away with that spring chicken.
since l have been in the army, and
French chicken, at that. Believe me
it tasted good. 1t cost us nice little
sum-ten francs, or almost two dol
lars in American money, but we didn't
care about that part in the least, since
there were no firecrackers to spend
the money for. So you see that poor
chicken had to suffer the consequent
ces. After we had our vast spaces fill
ed up we were in good trim for. a five
mile walk, which is short distance
for soldier Right after dinner we
went over to a nearby village about
two and half miles from our camp
and witnessed a ball game between
Co. A and Co. B and believe me, it
surely was a real game. 1t reminded
me of the games 1 used to see at the
old fair grounds in Manchester, only
the players wore different suits. They
also had foot races, wrestling matches,
boxing, and several other stunts, so
that most Of us who were there enjoy
ed the afternoon very much. There
was large crowd there, but notwith-
standing the crowd and the entertain
ment provided we could not help but
think of home and friends in the
States.
"I thought the Ford cars couldn't
cross the big pond, but they seem to be
running over here just the same as
they do in the States.
well, there are lots of things l
should like to write about, but rules
prohibit at present, but l hope that
some day l will be able to tell you
folks at home many of the interesting
sights we see and experiences we are
having over here Hope to hear from
you soon. The mail from home always
looks good to us fellows over here.
Your brother,
Private John e. Hermann,
"CO, H, 130th Infantry"