The herald., 1918-12-19
LETTER FROM LIEUT..
MIKE {. BONNER
France, Nov. Ills.


| Dearest Mother and Dad
Well as | am resting just now and
don't feel sleepy, l thought while
had the time, paper. and pencil and a
little energy left. that it would be a
mighty fine idea to drop a few lines
to, as the Country Lad" would
opine, The Folks to Home" so here
goes.
l have always respected the Boche
| for his ability to commit the most
| horrible and untold of atrocities up
on the innocent women and children
of the towns of France and Belgium
that he had invaded and destroyed;
also his sorrowful cry "Kamerad"
when he saw that he was about to
! be Bumped off," or "Tickled with
a bayonet," but l never for once,
| thought that it was possible for an
Army of Brave? Soldiers? to retreat
VIGOROUSLY? at such a speed. that
would have made Barney Oldfield
in his best days. look like a snail
in comparison. We are, with the eX-
ception of his Rearguards, just as
| far behind the Boche, as / am be-
hind Jno. ID. Rockefellow in pocket
change Eat this writing). Oh! my,
how Fritz can run, especially when
! the 'Doughboys' are trying to make
| 'em look like the Business End, of
the old time garden sprinkler, that
was so much in evidence before the
more practical Garden Hose came in
to its own. q
Perhaps their hasty departure
may be caused by the sudden illness
of a dear relative back in the Faith
| other reason why they should Aeave
place, where / feel assured from
observation, they intended to hold
! until Niagara Falls. Or mayhap its
because they do not like the pellets
| CH. Esq that Grandma and Betsy
| (affectionate names for our artillery
are so generously hurting at them.
Whatever the cause they are in a
very big hurry to get back to der
Faderland."
Say, to put the soft pedal on the
! joke stuff, these ''Gott mittus" ad-
| herents of German Kultur are in a
| class by themselves as towards. As
| far as fighting ability goes the
American Doughboys make 'em look
like the Last rose of Summer" and
at that We are battling the best Kali
| ser Bill has to put against us, the re-
nowned Tin Germany Prussian
| Guards and Jaegers. It's mighty
tough on a fellow to be living like
! turtle or alligator most of the
time, but at that, it's a wonderful
game. and worth the chance. Hunt
! ing the Boche has a Poker game or
! game of baseball beat altogether.
| 1t offers a little bit more excite
ment. I'll.
/ had my baptism of fire soon after
joining this Division, which by the
way, is regarded as one OF the best
on the Western Front" and has
been cited on numerous occasions
| for its good work. / can assure you
that a fellow undergoing his 'First
Trip Over the Top" doesn't feel so
comfortable, but after pinching your
self and finding out that you are not
one of those gone west" after the
show is over. you begin to feel the
| meaning of the words of that song,
sd rather be here than any place
else"
Don't worry about me. I am fine
and dandy. and I think I'll be back
in dear old Algiers before long.
| To my great surprise i met one
Algiers boy, and that was after our
last big drive. He Is Joseph M.
Dunn. and has been with the Divis-
ion on four fronts. He looks good
and says he feels like the Bottom
of a Stove"
Give my regards to all of my pals
and with all the love that a son is
capable OF possessing for his best
two pals. his parents, remain as
always, devotedly and lovingly.
MIKE.