The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-11-03
NWsY LETTER
FROM THE FRONT
0F PENSACOLA BOY

-5s following letter has been receiv-
.. nv Mr.. and Mrs. N. A. Nelson, 1909
,..,s Davis street, from their son.
,r,-f.ne Nelson. Of the f29th Field At
-. Battery D, who has been in
IN service for six months and &C
~. engaged on the Front for the
.... two months.
us enlisted in Company I Of Pensa-
-. and was transferred to the ar
er..v He writes interestingly Of his
....,.anaI experiences lover there"
\ u. saws: y have just received all OF
-,r- letters and believe me. I GER
.,irlv was glad to hear from you all
.r,s more. but by the way things
i I,,.ed for while l saw my finish.
Thew certainly made things hot for
-, air raids and everything else for
srhfrp and I nearly broke my neck
Siding into dugout. These aeroplane
rs.5s r7rtanlv put queer feeling into
AT 1t as luck would have it they
al bundled one man out OF about
-ounds. How | came to slide
dLCout so quickly was because,
ling to glance up I saw a bomb
inst being thrown out which explod-
ri about Is feet behind me, so you see
lust escaped in time.
7 am now a long ways behind the
lines in rest camp and enjoying life
once more We had a few casualties
buf We gave them hell which you can
soc nv the newspapers.
Judging by the way things look over
here we will be home pretty soon We
surely had TO do some work to get
those Dutchmen" out of their holes
rhev had dugouts down in the ground,
some Of them being 80 or so feet deep.
They had carpets, bath tubs. tables,
electric lights and everything that is
luxury tn life. They were actually so
dep in the ground that shells had no
effect on them The way things look
I'd il seemed they were never going TO
make another drive. They certainly
had things fixed up fine. W. had a
lot n casualties in our infantry but
the Germans We're double ours. We
We're right in the middle of the big
Sast drive the world has ever known.
suppose you all have read about it IN
The war news.
Well I guess will have to close
about this war done or my letter will
not get through the censor.
You all asked me for my picture, I
surely haven't time to hardly eat or
sleep.
haven't been paid off yet. so I'm up
7rainst it. They must have lost my
service record. or something is wrong.
! will tell you what I saw in a viii
age we captured during this drive. 1t
was completely ruined and a large
r-oup Of soldiers were scattered about
rating various canned and bottled
thinEs. 7 didn't know what was COM
ing off hut looking I'm the street
saw a house or at least a walled up
affair in which a Red Cross worker
was serving hot chocolate and tea
rakes. This was about two and a
half miles from the front and shells
fving everywhere. but she seemed
fearless and unconcerned.
In passing on our way back to a
rest camp one time we were so close
that we could see our Infantry and the
r1emv fighting. We had direct fire on
fhem for awhile and we gave them the
Fayil. This war is surely cruel. They
pave high explosive shells with sup
rsHnsitive FUSES. which by just
|ouching will explode tearing up
|aTEthing for 20 yards around, buried
Pr along the road, to stop our adj
|ance
We have had the lightest part Of the
'7r hut the infantry has the hardest
|They are the ones that deserve the
|-sdit but still they could accomplish
Iothing without the artillery. You see
III lah is tn nut up a barrage and
ear up harbed wire entanglements.
ln4chIne gun nests and the Boche ar
lfry 50 they can't use it while our
1ush boys go over the top.
4 VIII close with love to all, write to !
ne more than once a week. I could |
FAD your letters all day. Believe me. |
know what a good home is if !
Yer sec one again. We are going to /
I'VE TeveiIle at 30 a. m. don't |
nov where we are going but will |
On our way. We have been in /
little village for the past five days
saa are well rested up. Am sending !
gu won't forget /
2 Christmas.
n Lots NJ love.