The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1918-05-07

Inc lOllOWiHp ltllfT mas b''h w
ceiyed from Clinton Coe. who is in
France with the American Expedi-
tiOnary Forces:
France March 27, 1918.
Although 1t has been some time
since received your very interesting
letter sincerely trust you will be-
at my earliest possible opportunity.
Perhaps it would be well to state
that at the time of receiving your lot
ter my company was situated at the
front, and you can readily see that
was In no condition to carry on amy
lengthy correspondence
was, at that time, situated in a
town which had prior to the time OF
the arrival of the Americans been lit.
orally blown off the map. Buildings
which had been the residences Of hap
py French peasant are now reduced TO
q pile of stone. II seemed as though
everything had been entirely reduced
To ruins with the exception of the
church. which was standing intact or
nearly so. In fact there has been moth
ing spared which stood in the path of
the mighty t?) German, commonly
known In France as liochc) war ma
chine. | read of Corporal Hall being
at the front with the lst Division ON
its initial journey into the unknown,
and wish TO state that both Dalton
Long and myself have the honor of
being one of the first ones to pnrtici-
pate in this great struggle for free
dOm's cause We have twice been on
the front and are ready and willing
for another call Perhaps You would
be Interested in few of our exploits
although | don't have anything very
exciting to relate.
Just about three days before we
were TO leave for the front | was tax.
en- sick with the mumps and conse-
lmently had TO go to the hospital and
be placed in quarantine for ~ days.
When that period was over, | was re-
leased from quarantine and sent back
to my company, which was situated
at the front. This trip was made on
February r, which is, as YOU know, my
fathers birthday. Arriving at my
cOmpany's station | was allowed To
sort of put in the time for II few days,
and was then signed up for an am.
bulance. Well then and there my work
began. The way II was managed was
to send us to certain designated points
along the lines for duty and then rc.
lieyc us after n certain period and
send us on to other points. thus chang
ing our stations, and so to speak, Civ.
Ing us shot at all Of them. One of
tho stations was this town which |
spoke of In the beginning of This let
ter. ! remained there with Long from
Frederickt0wn for almost 81 days at
which time ! was unlucky enough to
break front spring of my ambulance
which, OF course, nccessitatcd my he.
Ing relieved Between This station of
which I was just speaking, and the
next stiil further beyond, was Ger.
tain piece of ground commonly known
as tdon't be shocked) Hollis Half
Acre" name, which may add 1t
richly deserved Our route through
this afore mentioned point consisted
Of road, which, for some unknown
reason. formed complete half circle
around II. Al a point about midway
Of our journey was very sharp turn,
derived its name in consequence of
In accident which happened to this
turn; perhaps | should say accidents.
TnG Germans seem to want this place
cultivated because they were cOnlin
ually Smelling II night and day, Al
most any hour we were kept from get
ting the "blues" by The constant, al
most unceaaing, explosion of shells
] remember one day was trying &c
repair some minor part of my nmbu
lance which. for some unknown rca
hUu' ibhintS" hh blNlnb ne tIouOl'
when Fritz suddenly became cncrget
ic aud sent over his bcat wishes. NJ,
orderly. who had been hclping me. dis
appeared "pronto" | called to hin
and asked him on what mission n,
was bent and he quietly told me tb'
sugOut was his goal laughed nj hin
ami turned Ia continue my work whol
.zing' shell exploded (qultc nea
enough. ] can assure you) and ahrar
mel fell all around You can believ
me when ! tell you | was very 500
taking the hint and joining my order
~ who was by this time comfortabl
~ 1890