Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1919-01-29
SHORTY WILSON D|DIT
FROM IST LIEUT.. H. c. SMITH.

from Detroit, MICH, MS nome city.
He was student in the first officers
training camp at Fit. Sheridan, draw
ing out a lieutenancy. This is one Of
the best letters the Herald has been
privileged to print, and we have had
some dandy good ones. Lieut.. Smith
is nephew of Mrs. J. A. Gault. His
mother is here for visit with Mrs.
Gault and through her courtesy the
Herald is enabled to give it's readers
the excellent letter.
France, Nov. 81, 1918.
Dear Mother:
Just another little note to let you
know that I'm still kicking. At pres
ent our outfit is engaged in salvag-
ing the ST. Mihiel battlefield gath
ering up all the unexploded bombs,
grenades, big shells, digging up Ger
man mines, etc. 1t is very interesting
work, particularly as you never know
what you are going to run across in
these German trenches and dugoutS.
They held this sector for four years,
and had plenty of time to fix things
up. / have been in concrete dugouts
sixty feet deep with electric lights
and all modern conveniences in them.
Many of their trenches are made OF
concrete. They sure did believe in
having things fixed up. And I've had
a chance to see what some of the
things that were exploding around
me look like before they go off. They
are certainly some wicked things
made to kill men with in this war.
Day before yesterday l went through
St Miheil to see what it is like. 1t is
town of about the size of IOnia, "
ing on both sides of the Mouse river,
and is very little damaged, except for
the houses of each end of the bridge.
These were destroyed when the Ger
mans turned their big guns on the
bridge to destroy it. The boche lived
in this town four years and there are
German signs all over it. All of the
boys and girls of five or six, and there
are a great many of them, speak Ger
man better than they do French, for
it is the only language they have ev-
er heard / remember more of my
German than | have learned French,
SO could talk to them very easily.
had quite a surprise yesterday
while censoring letters for the mer
in the company / picked up one adj
Co. Mich. 1t was from a private
Welsh to his sister He asked to be
remembered to the Hogans, whom,
you remember, were farmers north of
Muir. I am going to call him in and
talk to him some day and see if he
knows any more people in Muir.
also censored several letters to Ionia
and one to Hubbardston. Seemed like
being back home.
I have been made Battalion Liais-
son officer, that is, member of the
Battalion Staff. ''Liaisson" means
communication" / have charge OF
the runners. the wireless, the tele-
phone, and all other means of COM
munication for the Battalion. | don't
like it much, and am trying to get
back with a company where | be-
long.
I'VE just been thinking about one
Of the best friends l had over here,
Lieut.. Moore. Donald j. "Dinty" we
all called him. His home was in De-
troit. his mother lives out on the Joy
road. He and | were going up hill
under pretty heavy fire one day in
July when a fragment from shell
struck him in the forehead and took
the top Of his head off. He was about
fifty wards from me, and | started for
him to get his papers and jewelry to
send home for him when another shell
hit his body and blew it into nothing.
It lifted me right off the ground, al
so, but didn't even scratch me. l tig-
ure I've been cOnfoundedly lucky ov-
er here. Another time a 155 cen.
she'll Chats one big enough to blow
a house fiat to the earth) hit about ten
feet from me. l saw it bore into the
ground and in the next two seconds
| thought of everything that ever
happened to me. | bet | held MY
breath for three minutes waiting for
it to go off, but it never did. | count
the man that made that shell as an
everlasting friend of mine, and &c
like to have that shell to set up in
the front yard when l get back. Some
funny things happen to a man. but
they don't seem funny when they hap
pen. The Germans used to use a
kind of shell called Minenwerfer, but
which we called a pig. 1t is about
three feet long and has a snout IN
each end like a pigs nose. They
come floating over like a big foot
ball, and you can dodge them easy
when you see them coming if you
don't get excited. But good Lord.
what a hole they make when they
light! Up in the trenches one hit the
roof of a dugout and went right
through to the floor and rolled under
bunk before it exploded 1t blew
the man in the bunk all to pieces but
the fellow in the upper bunk right
over him Can old Sergeant about 40
years old) it blew right through the
roof of the dugout and sat him down
on a big rock about twenty feet away.
He had been sleeping with all his
clothes or, but when l came down,
about so seconds after the explosion,
to see what had happened, he was
sitting on the rock with one shoe and
one trouser leg on, and that was every
stitch of chothes on him. He was rub
bling his head, and the first thing he
said to me was, MY God, loot, they
do play rough" I assured him that
at times they did, and then we had to
keep him tied up in dugout for three
DAYS while he was out of his head.
He came out of it all right, tho, and
without a scratch.
a pitiful thing I saw was up north
of Chateau Thierry in July. A little
fellow they called Shorty Wilson, a