Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume] (Rockingham, N.C.) 1917-1965, 1918-04-25

| virginia. ana Is Delng given WIDE pub
licity in the state. 1t is one of the
most striking that has come from any
source. The committee prefaces the
letter with these words:
"The following letter from a young
American captain to his mother shows
the spirit, the courage and the resolve
of our men over there.
"Shall we not do our part, when they
meet death smiling7 Shall we not
stand behind themY"
This is the message sent home:
France, Dec. rs, 1917.
Ny Darling Mother:
1t is all little hopeless and use.
less, but here goes again as it is
Christmas, and that should bring luck.
Every now and then a long looked
for letter arrives and then little joy
| and then silence.
am just back from "out there"
and how good little French room and
fire seem once more, and water to
wash in, lots Of it, and clean sheets,
and hot food and greatest of all the
silence Of a small town.
I have clean clothes once more,
nothing in them but me and today is
Christmas and I should be thankful.
"Peace on Earth good will towards all
mankind" God, what a joke, but some
day peace is obliged to arrive and
things become normal.
Don't mind if I rave in this letter
a little have so much to tell, so very
little can tell, and in all probability
you will never receive it, so here goes.
Ages ago 1t seems I arrived over
here and have lived about six lives
since then. We go at breakneck speed
and there will be no let up until the
Boche is whipped, and he is a hard
devil to whip. I have seen him in
all his majesty, his dirt and filth, have
seen the remnant of his handiwork
(God help them) heard his hymn of
hate, seen him on the battle field,
heard his cannon roar, his machine
gun sputter, gone through his gas,
have been knocked down and cold by
his shells, watched his star shells turn
the world green, have seen him rot on
no mans land, have seen him in all
possible forms and conditions, and al
though he is good soldier we have
him whipped. He is fighter and a
good one, but he has met better one
than he is. / have seen my men after
four days with no sleep, in mud almost
to their waist, lousy, little hungry,
very, very tired and in a place no sane
man would like to be, crack jokes
when shell hit a little too far 'off,
laugh at death, and wounded, wonder
how long it will be before they could
return to hit at him once more. He
will never appreciate the spirit of our
troops, for what the Boche doesn't pos
sess he can't understand, and the spirit
of our men is something he will never
possess.
There was an affair on the 18th of
certain month (look at your Army
and Navy JournaD and being on the
18th of course was in it. The jour
nal has it wrong-things get twisted
going from here to America, but in
that little affair I saw one man go with
a smile on his face into pure death and
he knew it. What the Boche had in
tended for big thing ended in farce
for them. A few, very, very few Of
US whipped hell out of God knows
how mSny of them. We have got them
whipped, Mother, and they will soon
find it out.
Listen, no one who has not been
under shell fire can know anything
about it Il have an overcoat or what
is left of it, I wish you could see),
but / have seen my company under it
and for more than day of incessant
firing and l have yet to see one of
them show any signs of eowardice.
They are afraid, of course; everyone
is afraid little, but when the noise
of bursting shells was so great that 1
would have to lean close and yell to
be heard, they always had a smile and
o joke in reply.
I have told you before that I am
q captain, and my company of $50 men
are just the best in the world. They
like me and I idolize them, and we
certainly pull together. God help the
Boche when we hit him, for we won't
We have given him small sample
Of the meal he has yet to eat, and he
is going to strange over it.
l sWar Is HELL"
| II is hard to write of things you
could not and northumberland. You
read songs about "shot and shell fly
ing" and it sounds pretty to music.
When you actually hear it, it sounds
as / imagine hell feels like. You
cant tell about it, you simply have
to feel it.