The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1918-02-14
SOLDIER IN FRANCE
WRITES THE HERALD
An Interesting Account of His Ex-
periences
GIVES NO FORBIDDEN NEWS
Sergeant VIM. E. Vecqueray Re
lates Incidents of His Voyage
Across the Atlantic.-Storm
During the Trip Caused Conf
cal Occurrences

cal occurrences
The following letter from Serg
VIM. E. Vecqueray was writer
on Y. NJ. C. A. note paper headed
con Active Service with the A
merican Expeditionary Forces,
and was dated "France, Jany; 7th
1918" 1t will be read with great
interest by the many friends OF
the writer:
Dear Mr.. Jordan i am writ
ing this practically under the ca
gle eye of the censor, and in cOnse,
quence lots Of things | would like
to write about must be left unSaid
and Others only indefinitely men
toned. To begin with, dates of
departure, names of vessels or any
definite information of that kind
is taboo, and so must be left to the
imagination.
We knew for some time before
we actually left the States that we
We're under orders to leave, but no
one knew just when. In conse-
quence our freight was all packed
up and shipped to the port of en-
barkation a week or more before
we followed it. Our baggage left
a couple of days before we did,
and then one day we ourselves got
orders to prepare to leave.
In consequence of the uncertain
ty, there were only comparative
ly few people at the Barracks to
see us off and we marched away
with no demonstrations or fuss.
The band stood at the entrance
gate and played each company out
as it passed, but went no further;
and we might have been just start
ing off for a little practice march
for all the notice our departure
caused. 1t took us very little time
to board the train and, in short
time, we were started on the jour
ney to which most of us had been
anxiously looking forward. On
our arrival at the port of embark
alton, no time was lost in getting
us aboard our transport, which, by
the way, was one of the finest of
her kind. The boat did not leave
for nearly "a hours after we got
aboard her; so we had time to set
tie down and investigate our new
home.
And now let me tell you, that,
while life on a transport has none |
of the comforts of home, yet, con-
sidering the number of men on
board, it is by no means unbeara-
BILE. The officers and a few
pecially privileged characters
had good staterooms, and, OF
course, their own mess, but the
men were in much closer quarters.
The hunks consisted of canvas,
between two iron rods,
and were from three to four tiers
high. There was not much room
between the rows of hunks, and |
the men on the upper hunks had
to perform a sort of acrobatic feat
every time they crawled into bed.
We had a number Of colored
regiments with us, and
had the pleasant duty assigned
me, of being on duty in their mess
hall at meal time, to keep the line
and prevent stop on the
" chow line" With so many men
to feed, it was impossible to seat
them at tables and serve the food
in a regular manner; so the men
were formed in single file and /
passed down the serving tables
with their mess kits, and received
their share Of the chow. They
then passed on and stood or sat a.
round anywhere they could and
ate it. AS soon as they had eaten,
they were supposed to pass out at
another door to make room for