The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-12-10
XMAS LETTERS
ARE ON THEIR
WAY TO FATHER
November "a was Fathers Day" for
Boys In France. Christmas Vic.
tory Letters Will Reach Home in
Time.

: tory Letter Day for the boys i
france, according to the Stars an
Stripes, the official newspaper of th
American Expeditionary Forces. O.
this day every American soldier i
France possessing a father is sur
posed to have written him, and tlios
not so fortunate were urged to writ
to someone else's father. Compan
censors and the postal service wer
to speed the missives in the sam,
manner as they did those to max,
Mothers day success.
| 1t Is expected that these letters viii
arrive at their destinations in tim,
for Christmas, and to this end th,
auxiliary. services of the A. E. F.. thu
Red Cross, the Y. M. G. A., the K
OF c., and the Salvation Army have
1 all promised the same cooperation as
made success of Mothers Day.
According to the announcement in
in the Stars and Stripes, the Christ.
mas victory letters will now be on
their way to the homes and firesides
OF the folks at home.
just What it Means
Following is the story, in part,
printed in the Stars and Stripes:
"A Christmas Victory Letter to
Dad!
A Christmas letter to let the old
gent know that we survived the
show and are getting along nicely,
thank you, to give him our version
Eof how it happened, to remind him
that we will be back home some of
these days to put our feet under the
family table and our upper lip over
the fatted pig-the letter to be brief
and truthful, that we've been going
to write (some day. ever since, for
scandalous majority of us, since
we arrived in France.
November "a has been nomin-
ated by the Stars and Stripes as Dads
Christmas victory letter day for the
whole A. E. F., the day upon which
every American soldier in France sits
down a few minutes and concentrates
the weak threads of good intentions
into the composition of letter to the
best buddy he has in trousers.
On this side of the water the OBJ
servance of Dads Christmas victory
letter day will be somewhat similar
to that of Mothers day, which is re-
membered by the weather-beaten old
timers of one service stripe or more.
Success of Mothers Day
On Mothers day, May 12, just at
the beginning of the fighting season,
with all the A. e. f. busy and on its
toes, practically every American SOL
dier in France, who had a mother
wrote to her, and lot who had suf-
Tered the greatest bereavement of |
their lives wrote to their buddy's |
mother or somebody else! The sail
ors in European water-and they're
IN on 1t this time-did likewise. The
result was that ship landed at an
American port late in May with |
[ 100000 letters tbroad, the greatest
shipment of first class mail ever re-
,eived in the United States from
Americans abroad.
ut will be about the same this
ime, with the added cheering factors
hat we have lot more to tell now,
Ind plenty Of time to tell It. Sol
liers who are fatherless are urged
o write to somebody else's father.
Particularly, If buddy has fallen
n battle, they are asked to write to
lis father. There are fathers in the
United States for whom this Christ
mas will not be as merry as it might,
or whom even the cries of victory
re reminders of grief.
How Scheme Will Work
1T will be Do it Now Day for the
writing of a letter to dad. Every
lOdv writoc fo tho n1d mon ord f+bi. |
8 the best part of it, gets Christ
mas letter from him in return. That
8 the whole scheme. Your news
'aper Is arranging the second part
f it with the aid of the cables aud
he American news services.
THE news agencies have wired
yer that the fathers victory Christ
1as letters are coming with lot of I
ot first-hand war dope and that it {
ehooves all the fathers of European {
'ar veterans to stir the germ of or {
biography in their good right hand,
rab piece of paper and writing tool
nd do the best they can with the
at hand. It's two-day re-
lprocal action proposition. y
To Cheer the Old Man
'So.remember the date-Novembe
it's been set aside by | =
our newspaper in your behalf as the
ay on which, to write Christmas 6
ictory letter to the old man, and no I
latter what else befalls that day,
Q sure to get off that letter to dad,
ven If its only few lines to tell .
i'm you're we'll and to wish him