Norwich bulletin., 1919-01-02
GIVES VIVID DESCRIPTION
OF BATTLE EXPERIENCES

Having had the INDEX hngef OF his
right hand shot off with shrapnel,
Sergt. Michael J., Shea, Co. D, 102nd
Machine Gun Battalion, is hoping that
he can rejoin his outfit, he writes, 10
his brothers, John ]. Shea and Patrick
+. Shea of this city, but is afraid he
is due for a disa pility discharge. He
writes from Paris and gives a vivid
description Of the fighting that he
went through and of wEatshe saw OF
! the care of the wounded, from an ill.,
SIDE viewpoint.
Three of his letters follow:
Nov. ?, 1918.
| Dear P. F.:-I wrote 10 Name
| couple Of days ago. telling her that 1
vas wounded and in the hospital. but
l am telling you again in case she
| does not get her letter.
| I was caught by bursting shell.
| 4 couple of pieces went into my right
| thigh. Another piece took off nv
| into my chin. | could sure hear the
| angels calling me for a minute but
stuck my fingers in my cars and made
believe I did not beg: them. Il vas
sure a hot Old hole.
The last time I wrote you VIC were
III barracks near Terdun. Well, the
next day we got orders to go and that
night we started in the rain 7 guess
| we made about fifteen kilos before
r"fililS up 70 ger WHAT rest we could.
| The next night we went into the lines
renewing d padly saet-pp outht 10 the
west of the fortress-about fifteen
kiios. They had not S9en over hoTe
go. ipr.s anu ms Naa lhef Hfst
-! A24 IIo| liao tlllic 70 p9FN
! .ilelS ueaq, 50 We were pretty busy
IoF a Whlle between flehfin9 and
Er4 ~.
me mus 1hefe We're heavily forest
"a ana me FalteyS treeless, but the
~oods were soon @El9t to pieces. e.
.tiE nfst Heek an we dLd was mold
LEN a.: anu lhell we started ahead, Mi
sitll7o were HoL as tAe} Ferc N INC
pls pusi ~ me Marine last JllZ. OF
do "heh We hlopea on inc 81, Mimic
SliIeIl, III HePtetl1oer. mere We 2d-
n>tl!oSu d kilgillelef 1T 1hcso lines "
tloM ctst"4Gd LoF@2t4 meter ant
l0Q5H ~ inc Ael' 70 hoid mat.
The Hun had the advantage of Pc
| sition and more artillery than we has
I ever seen him use before, while i
!, seemed that every Heinie over there
: had q machine gun u0 his sleeve. Wa.
t ter was very scarce and We had Il
, use what we could get from shell.
! holes. We had almost reached Gu,
5 objective, but were waiting for Il,
i ! battalion on the hill TO our left, whicI
0 was meeting with more resistance Il
j come up and stra;ghten cut the line
when got mine.
S A "wI1iz-barc' landed within, fire.
!. feet of me and T was s,Irn l1Iclsv +,
: get Off as easily as did, One af th,
= boys banda red me ID and 7 made M
Y way back 10 where our first-aid ma,
e was working. Then. with a Falf-doze,
4 other wa!Fing cases ! started dow
Il the slope to the ambulance station
| and, although we all yyora banda 90
|, trait could he seen nj Two kiIornetere
: the HUNS on orr LETT turned a M
| chine gun On us. and We had to ad
Y vance by PUSHES and duck in and on
n of shell holes all .Ls way hack IN
e we all made il All when we reacbe
! the sation there was a. howl of he
chocolate waiting for us, and may b
it didn't go good after rolling in III
=. mud fer two weeks straight.
Then came a wild ride in IN am
7, bulance over a sheiI=tor1l road wit
: Fritz BOUNDING them after us mill "
Y were out of range. Glad wasn't
e fracture case on that ride, AT las
S we reached a place where we We
:. divided The Seriously wounded wer
0 again placed in anbulances. while tn
: rest of US were put on motor truck
g given more hot chocolate. and starte
en- a twenty-kilo ride to \ hosnita
z with everybody singing. You co7II
. tell how long a fellow had been owe
II Lere by the songs he sang. The me
It from the new divisions SANG SONG
= THAI we had never heard before,
eI At last we reached a ~5o;:nifaI an
e got out of our dirty clothes THE
d took US to the X-ray room and locate
d what hardware We had under az
skins. When they took me to the or
& Grating room I had 10 wait fweiT
It hours while they worked on the nor
serious cases. There were thirty SUI
geons working as fast as they coul
and in that twelve hours I sa
p CROUCH to last me a lifetime.
At last they put me on table ar
30 put me to sleep and when I woke I
At I was in a, nice bed and the rest
In my finger was gone. ] STAYED the
&c for day and then they nut a eeup
Of OF hundred of US Oh a, French hosp
n tai train. and after a twenty-five
H. ride we reached Paris [ think tn
ar we rode about three hundred l5ilos
al fyo +.o;. Jx-1,.-- = II ',