Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1918-12-13
had seen war, but I hadn't.

years of war he never seen men act
like ours under fire. And that is
what has gotten the nerve of the
| Doche.
They talk about French spirit. If
[ ever get back I will have something
TO tell about lie American spirit. Up
| TO that time we had been fighting
mostly Austriars, who run either one
| way or another as soon as an Ameri-
can comes in sight. This time we
| went UP against the Prussian guards
and there is no better equipped SOL
diers in the world. Germany may
be down and out and only equipping
her own troops, but they still have
plenty of everything. We are in
the toughest sector now on the whole
front and we are advancing through
country that both the English and
French said could not be taken.
Survivors Nervous Wrecks.
Ever since we left Alsace we have
been going steadily on, sleeping by
day in the woods in the rain, march
ing at night, and I've gotten so I am
aumb to all sensations. l haven't
even had a hay pile to sleep on, it
| seems to me, for years. But l seem
none the worse for it. The few of
fcers left are all gassed or have the
grip or something, but I'm still on
top. Nerves like Bateman' is get
ting to be an adage in the regiment.
When our battalion went in the field
| told you about, we had 841 officers
and men, and when we came out we
had between 200 and 800, and most
of those are nervous wrecks. It's
pretty cold here, but we are harden
ed to that. The thing we mind is
the wet. We sleep in the wet, eat
in the wet and fight in the wet. Right
now I'm mud from head to foot. The
only thing I have left of my equip
ment is an enlisted mans overcoat,
uniform with not a single button
on the blouse, a pair of mud-caked
hob-nailed shoes and underwear that
I have had on so long that l am a
shamed to think of it. My pack with
my blanket and toilet kit and extra
socks was struck by she'll on the
18th Of October and I haven't even
razor left. I'm a sight and look
as much like an officer as do wait
er in a dress suit, My sergeant and
l sleep together, and last night we
slept in a deep narrow ditch with my
overcoat on the bottom and his on
top. The ditch was so narrow that
it took us about halr an hour &c
wedge ourselves in, but once in, we
kept one another warm.
Shared Treat With Girl
Were pretty happy and cheerful
although it's hard to be cheerful Just
now with the memory of Oct. II in
my mind. Some girls, one who play
ed the harp and one who sang, came
up and entertained us about two
days before we made our attack, and
l think they both came from Heaven.
There aren't even any French wom-
en- in this wasted place and these two
girls set the boys crazy. One of
them came by my rolling kitchen
just as the cook had given me piece
of bread about a foot long covered
with jam. I hadn't had anything to
eat for some time, because one of the
Boches tricks is to shell the road so
that our kitchen can't get anywhere
near us. She said: My! That looks
good. So l offered her bite which
she took and of course ] then fell in
love with her. Just think. l hadn't
spoken to an American girl for four
months. They both had their nerve
with them because where we were
was under shell fire. I never will
forget that girl. She had an ex-
quisite voice and sang things that
were new to us although old in the
States.
They say our fight was worse
than Chateau Theirry. The closest
call had was when a she'll exploded
so close to me that it tore my helmet
off, burst every button on my blouse
and bursted one of my putttes off my
leg. Of course it was shock that
did it all, and it blew me into a hole
about 20 feet away. I kept going
through but the men in the rear
thought I had been bumped off,"
FOR SALE At reasonable price.
a saddle colt.
Its B, L. Wood, Mill Gap, Va.