Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-01-16

first l ever shot at but after
that | shot at Il good many. /
never thought Il man could stand up
and go through what we had been
through. This is the worse war was
ever in. Well, Eddie. will close for
this time. Give my best regards to
all the boys. Your CID friend.
BILL MCGUIRE.
Sergeant John s Everett. L. S.
Marine Corps. writes to Col. William
H. Williams Of Augusta as follows:
Saint Nazaire, France,
December 8, 1918.
Dear Colonel:
1t seems to me that 1 have not
heard from you in reply to my letter
from the brother Elk's Club at New
1ork-way back in September 1918
and l can tell you that | miss your
newsy answers
l guess that you know by now that
l am over here" spending most of
my time wondering when l will get
back over there" I wrote to you
while on the great Atlantic and
brought you right to the celebration
in Paris. Since the Goth of Noycm-
Der have been at st. Nazairc, that
| is, my headquarters are here and my
beat is from here to Paris. I'm doing
| less and seeing more than any man in
the A. f. +. All the three hundred
| miles between the two cities is as
| familiar now as the trip to Bucksport
and I'm on as familiar terms with the
~ nS 7 ~
Johnny Mace. Just one difficulty with
| these trains-they have no smoking
compartments. one has to go out into
the couloir (rassage way) to draw on
the pipe.
| The particular work to which I am
assigned is collecting information
| from the Marines in regard to their
pay accounts. Most of them are in
| the hospital and I'll tell YOU Colonel,
that these men are heroes: they arc
suffering everything without a word
of complaint. The agony of the
, > ounds is much greater than it was
at first. but they face pain as they do
machine guns. I've seen blind bows
who arc better spirited than ever
was. I've seen boys MANNED for life
arr they are as cheerful as school
boys-you just can't believe that they
have been through such awful
scenes. And they all feel that they
are so much better off than the gal
liant unreturning" whom they left be-
hind on a dozen battle fields.
And of all the organizations to
which you folks back there have been
giving. the palm goes to the Saliva
ton Army. From what I've seen and
heard they are doing more real work
1or the boys at the right time than all
the others put together. That or
/ Sanlzation will stand for something
when the boys come home.
And, Colonel, perhaps there are
| not heartaches here every night when
the transports pull out, laden down
with lucky boys home for Christ
| mas. There are now about twenty
Atlantic liners lying outside waiting
to come into the port to take back to
America the most precious cargoes
that they ever carried home for
Christmas" Well, the rest of us can
make the best OF it, for they arc the
boys who did the work.
st. Nazaire is almost like home.
I'm roomine with Howard Nickerson,
You remember Howard he sends his
best regards to all in the office. We
| nave two rooms with Il Madam
Frenand whose husband fell at Yer
dun last year. We join the family
parties nearly every night and [ ex-
hiblt my ignorance of French. How
ard can run quite conversation with
them. Last Tuesday l say my broth
err getting on train just as we pulled
out of the station. so he did not sec
NC. But ] met Everett Maxcy who is
headed for home, not directly, per-
haps, but he is going soon. He looks
first rate in spite of the fact that he
had not heard from Maine since leay-
| ing the States.
| Well, Colonel. you are under a con-
siderable moral obligation to drop a
line to me. now that | am outside the
three mile limit. | sure do miss the
news. Best regards to all and my
best wishes for a Merry Christmas
and Happy Neaw Year to Mrs. Will
lians and yourself. Yours,