Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-12-04
BEFORE THE FINAL CHARGE
CAPTAIN BUFFERS IN A REAL
GERMAN DUG-0UT
Letter Written in France on Eve of
War Cl0se-Tells of Narrowing
Scenes and Awful Devastation

Scenes and Awful Devastation
lin Supply oRce IO7th Sanitary Train. A. p
o. 7s4, Am. E. F. France, November III
Dear Mr. Munson: Every wet, mud
covered, flea bitten, cootie-covered
mothers son OF General Pershing' s
army over here in the front lines, is
today standing on tip-toe listening
with straining ears for the final word
that will stop actual hostilities. The
Paris papers of yesterday tell that
Austria has signed the armistice. We
know Bulgaria and Turkey are also
out of the game, and that Germany is
alone. We also know that the Coun-
ell at Versailles have sent to Presi-
dent Wilson the terms to be sent to
Germany, which if accepted, will cause
every gun on this terrible front to
cease. To say that the boys here
are fed up on war enough for a life
time is to put it mildly.
This is our third big offensive, with
one semi-osfensive. Our division COM
menced this last doings on the End of
October, and for tire most part of the
time since. have been in the front
lines, This has been by far the most
trying, due to the length and the ma
ture of the terrene and the rain and
mud.
Natural Beauty Destroyed and Cities
Ruined
The country we are in was held by
the Germans since the commencement
of the war and has been so constantly
under fire that all natural beauties
have been defaced. The forests are
all broken and torn. The fields I'M
cultivated, shell torn and cut by the
great gashes of trenches and dugouts.
The roads are unkept and in awful
condition to what the roads in other
sectors were. Transportation has
been very difficult. When we first
came up here we were % hours in
going IS kilometers, or about ten
miles. 1t is said that there were over
Is miles Of solid trucks and auto
mobiles in one stretch, slowly trying
to creep along. The cities and viii
lagos in this land are mere masses of
broken stone and tile with hardly the
semblance of city left.
Hospitals Taken to the Front Under
Constant Fire
Because of the great difficulty in
getting the wounded back the Field
Hospitals were rushed up to very front
and for some two weeks worked under
constant fire. We were so close that
the men in the front line trenches
were in the hospital in an hours time
after being wounded, which meant
the saving of hundreds of lives. We
were hit at times with shrapnel and
high explosives and lost some of the
hospital men, but no doubt our close
Living in German Dug-Outs
We live in the German dug outs,
which are wonders of construction,
and in many of them if a felloW could
stay there constantly would mean al
most complete safety. But men have
to eat and weFk and it is only at. off
hours or nights that one can stay in
the dug-outs. Where we are the
Boche had made a great park in the
woods with little pavilions around
where they could sit and visit, and by
the great number of beer bottle, drink
a little But when we got there all
the beauty cf it had been destroyed
by being shell-torn.
Want to Stop the Awful Killing
At present there is much conjecture
as to our berth when hostilities cease.
1t is thought that many soldie RS will
be sent to the cities of Alsase aud Lor-
raine, and even into Germany itself,
and we are ali hoping that the work
of policing these places may fall to
us. We are also conscious of the
fact that we can't all be sent home in
a few days time and that there will
be long periods of waiting, but if they
will only stop this everlasting killing,
and even the noise and the fearful
dread that hangs like a pail over the
armies here in front, we can stand
the waiting. For weeks there were
about fifty guns of big caliber, six
inch placed within a half a kilometer
of my dug-out and four of these guns
were within 100 yards, and yet | could
sleep at night unless the enemy would
commence sending shells towards us,
and the peculiar whine and crash of
the incoming shell would bring us all
up standing in a moments time. The
Major who slept in the dug-out | was
in would always sit 1p and say the
same thing, my God, they have start
ed again" Then let bomb dropping
Boche plane go over and that would
keep us awake.
Nervous Breakdown for Many
/ think one of the worst things
about this life is the constant tention
in which we all live. 1t gets on ones
nerves after awhile and means she'll
shock and a complete nervous break
down for many. And yet there are
some bright sides. Some cheerful
that are God-sends in places
like this. 1t is rather an American
too. The Frenchman
who told me about seeing American
soldiers going over the top eating
bread and jam, an unneard of thing in
their army, touched in sense the
care free spirit of the American sol
der.
Negroes Filled With Happiness and
Originality
There are lot of colored soldiers
over here, most of them doing road
work, but they tell many tales on
them. They are mostly the southern
type of negro and filled with happi-
ness. One of them, though, was in
the line and it was his duty to pull
the trigger on a big gun. His ears
were stopped with cotton and after
the gun was all set and loaded he
would stand on his tip toes, give the
string a jerk, look toward Germany,
throw his hat in the air, dance around
and shout out, "Now, Kaiser, count
your men," A chaplain was telling
L L.