Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1919-05-08


American Troops in France.
Embarkation Camp No. 2,
Bordeaux. France,
April 10, 1919
Dear Folks:
Taking this opportunity to write
you few lines. Everything is COM
ing along fine in the way of prepara-
tion for embarking We left Van
claire, or Montpont on April End, a
Wednesday, and proceeded by train TO
Bean Desert, a place outside of Bor-
deauX, distance of about four miles.
There We stayed in Unit No. II until
Monday morning, April 7th. During
our stay there We took hikes through
camp, played baseball, quoits, or read
books Weather conditions were
quite good. though we had plenty of
rain. | managed to get into the
kitchen as a kitchen policeman on
Sunday Well, | certainly had my
fill of good things To eat and also
stocked up with supplies. We were
joyful bunch when we learned we
were to leave for the docks of Geni-
cart. the delousing camp. Many Of
the boys prepared themselves for de-
parture by making up their packs,
etc. spent some time in that way
myself, but didn't make up my pack
until morning on Monday.
was up at : o'clock A. NJ. washed,
made my pack and then carried my
mattress and two blankets back to
the supply house Well, you should
have seen my pack. 1t had attached
gas-mask. helmet, "a pair Of hip-boots,
"a leather slip-on coat. mackinaw and
other things. 1t was a good thing
didn't have TO carry IL myself or
would have bushed. The packs were
carried by trucks. while we marched
with light packs ! had my musset
bag. raincoat and book.
We left Bean Desert at about 9
O'Clock A. NJ along with Base Hos
pital Unit No 81 and Base Hospital
Unit No. 81. the latter consisting of
about four men and one lieutenant
The distance we travelled was about
eleven miles and during the trip We
passed through Bordeaux and across
the heavy trafficed bridge. We held
up little traffic but got away pretty
good Just before going up the
steep hill we ate our lunch of cold
canned beans and dry bread We then
proceeded and came into Gencart
Camp No. al about | =. NJ.
We were put into barracks No. POI
and 2l3. The figure l3 seems to be
with us yet we noticed. Well dirty
barracks were ours, and | never have
seen their beat | never was so blue
as when saw them. We were sup
posed to be ready for embarking, but
those lousy places made me think diff
ferently. During the afternoon we
heard countless stories regarding our
departure 1t looked as if never.
Then came hurried order to be
ready at A. NJ. to proceed to Camp
Number ,, the place of the delouser.
That night | slept in my blankets
and had "A fairly good sleep. Was
up at daybreak. made my pack
and then helped police the barracks
as much as we could We left half
hour later hut il caused no confusion
Everyone had 70 carry his pack, 50
we unloaded again as much of the
stuff as we thought was not neces-
sary 10 carry Here gave away my
boots and left the book ! was reading
Everyone lined up alphabetically
and started off We arrived about
$3.50 A. NJ and entered large ware
house or shed with a dirt floor Here
we unslung packs and waited our
turn to pass through "The Mill" or
delouser. The first name is the cor
rect one for il is a milling we under
went. We removed our dog tags and
carried them in our hand. Passed
through a gate where we were regis
tered, given a clothing slip and our
tags examined. We then moved over
TO the inspectors, consisting Of two
fellows, one who examined your pack
the other, taking your clothing slip
] never thought | had as much junk
until | began TO unload. II filled a
barracks bag and a small Red Cross
bag. We then passed through a court
! Continued on page four)