The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1918-12-23
LETTER From LIEUT.. elxsY
Arlington Boy Describes Service !
France With S. o. S.

Arlington soy DeSCrtpeS SERVICE m
France With S. o. S.
The following letter was written
by former Arlington boy. Second
Lieut.. Jesse G. Bixby of the signal
corps The letter is dated November
"a and was written at Hours. France.
Dear Dad see by stars and
Stripes" the army newspaper publish
ed for the soldiers. that all of the
boys should drop a letter to Dad to-
day, although ! suppose that there
will be many a dad that will receive
no letter Tor the .boy has made the
sorry, in way, that | never had
chance to get to the front. but after
our general was here one day and
made a little speech felt as though
was doing my bit as much as the
rest. but not suffering the hardships
that my comrades have undergone
The general said; Boys, don't feel as
though you were not helping to win
this war by being back here in the S
o. s., for if it were not for YOU boys
the boys at the front would fare very
poorly.
II feel that have done my share OF
coed work by staying here and keep
ing the lines of communication open
Every night and day ! have been on
hand TO keep the men have under
me doing their best; but it was unnec.
cessary for they had the right spirit
| have sat at the test board day after
day alone to watch for the least break
in the line of communication, for
knew what ii meant If + failed IL
was up to me and to me alone until
It become more than one human being
could handle, now | have four com
rades doing the same work for me and
i feel that | have done my share.
don't get on the road much as have
two men within call with motor
cycles ready TO dash away at
moments notice They are the mos;
faithful fellows ever saw. Night
or day, rain or shine. they are off at
the word of command without a muir
muir. have several others along the
line awaiting the word, but some of
them are ten to hundred miles from
my station. Thus you can see it's no
small part have been playing in the
great game. never before had the
opportunity to tell you my story from
the time | left New York Oct. s.
1917. We went to Halifax first where
we picked up nine more ships. Then
we started to cross the many miles OF
ocean that lay before US For IA DAYS
we were ont OF sight OF land-way IN
in the North sea. Oh. but 1t was cold
We reached the coast of Scotland and
perhaps that rocky shore didn't look
good. But in the meantime. when we
entered the danger zone It was neces-
sary for the boys who come with me,
10 Of them. to stand watch on top OF
the wheel house. as all OF them we're
semaphore or telegraph operators
and expert electricians. Their duty
during the day was to communicate
with the leading battleship by soma.
phore At night the telegraph opera
tors signaled by fashlight
1--WE landed in safety at Liverpool
Eng. Oct H. From Liverpool We
went to Southampton where we re.
manned three days and eventually
leaving for La Hayre, France Ar.
irving at La Hayre Oct % we put in
two miserable days in camp. cold and
rainy We made the trip to Paris in
one OF those comical French trains
win tell you what | saw in Paris
when ! reach home
In December was sent to St
/ Mozair to inspect our telegraph and
telephone Office From St Mlzair ]
went to Brest You will easily find
these two places on the map. as they
are both on the coast. | ate my Christ
mas dinner In Brest and. believe me.
! was lonesome boy. Orders came
to move our headquarters TO Tours
and | was one OF the first to leave so
as to have things ready for the Off.
GERS when they were ready to move.
We did the job O. H.. moved into q
large hall and began putting in our
electrical apparatus, ! was put in
charge of the long distance communi.
cations. October "a they saw fit to
make me lieutenant thought
had responsibility enough already. II
told you all Of my experiences and
what | have seen il would take a
month so will let that story rest until
after ] reach home.