Oxford eagle., 1918-05-09
HEADQUARTERS THIRTY-NINTH
DIVISION

May 2, 1918.
Gov. Theo. G. Bilbo,
jackson, Mississippi
NV Dear Governor Bilbo:
As the Chief Executive of your
state and as a patriotic citizen of this
nation, know you are interested in
the welfare of the soldiers of this
Camp, thousands of whom are from
Mississippi
Ii is impressed upon my mind
every day that many mothers, wives
and sweethearts of our soldiers are un-
Willingly, bringing upon themselves
and upon their soldier relatives the
greatest misery and disgrace.
81 want to see you. Please come
home"
These eight words of affection COM
pose hundreds of messages that are
received by men in this camp each day.
Despite the fact that they appea. as
tender tokens from home, they are the
cause of more misery and anguish on
the part of the soldiers of Camp
Beauregard than any other cause.
They engender homesickness and dis
content in the hearts of the boys
who go, with or without leave, to their
loved ones. In these strenuous times
of war the crime of being absent with
out leave is a serious one and its
punishment is well known, especially
to the men in the army.
Because the folks at home are the
innocent cause of so many of these
crimes, | want to make direct appeal
to relatives and friends of the men to
refrain from addressing to them mes
sages that make them believe that
things are not right at home-that
they should return to their firesides
even without leave or permission.
1t is natural, know, for a sick wife
or mother TO want to see her soldier
boy. In every one, except in the
most extreme cases, the desire should
be suppressed, for the soldier not be-
ing a physician, could accomplish no
real good by visit, but could, on the
other hand, by such a visit get
himself into a predicament from
which he cannot extricate himself in
months and some eases years. A sol
der should not be written discourag-
ing letters. but instead, he should be
sent words of cheer. He has impor-
tant duties to perform for his country
and he can do them better with a
light heart.
The sight of a prisoner wearing
ball and chain is pitiful one in pri-
vate life. That of a soldier boy being
driven to unpleasant duties OF a psi-
soner under guard is just rs shocking,
but it is not an unfrequent sight in
this Camp. The greatest number of
reasons fo~ his predicament are
letters written BY foits at ho,ae m
ploring him to come t. them.
In many -ase OF desertion the
cause is traced TO these seemingly in
nocent letters from home. The -oi-1
der receives such a letter, he gets
homesick or blue" and decides to
leave, with or without permission.
After he aI1ivas at home, he begin.
TO realiZe what his action means and
he decides to ia.. Desertion in time
of War is punishable by the death
penalty. nase'teis from this Division
are sentenced to confinement in the
Federal P'nitcntiary for long terms,
ranging ir)m ter. twenty-five years.
IL mothers. wives and swee;hea I.
could b. made 10 understand what
misery AMI i.sgrace they may bring
upon their lcIci ones by writing such
letters, | EN- sue they would send
messages of good cheer instead of
those which viii make the son. hus-
band or sweetheart downcast and !
homesick.
If the people of Arkansas, Louisiana
and Mississippi would realize that
every letter written a soldier making
him feel that things We're not all night
at home was the worst thing for his
welfare, believe they would stop
sending such messages. know this
section of the country and feel that in
no other part is pat lotism gIeater
and pride in the army more pronounc-
ed. History shows that the enlisted
men of this Division come from fight
ing stock, for they are the descend
ants of those efficient and daring SOL
diers who followed Beauregard. Dick
Taylor, Barksdale, Pat Claiborne.
Pike, Marmaduke, Van Dorm. Chas. |
Clark and other famous leaders dur
ing the stirring days of the sixties. |
These facts show me there is no in
tention on the part of the folks al
home to deter the progress of the |
army. On the other hand realize