The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-02-21
LETTERS. FROM THE
BOYS. IN THE CAMP

The following clippings were sent
! to N. l.. Bacon of Mankato. The
young man, Alvin Acker, is a nephew
J of Mr. Bacon, and at one time at
tended the Commercial college. His
home is in Augusta, Wis. He is a
member of the Supply Company,
Sixtieth Infantry, Army of Occupation
American Expeditionary Forces.
| Alvin Acker is still seeing active
service and getting his full share of
war experience. He was the first
/ from this county to go across and
has been on duty practically all the
| time since his enlistment short time
after the United States entered the
worlds war. His last letter is as
; follows:
! On Active Service With tho A. f.
F., Dernbach, Germany, December "a,
, 1915 Dear Folks at Home: Re-
/ ceived your letter today and was sure
glad to hear from you again. 1t has
been the first one I've had in long
time and this one was mailed the 25th
of October / don't know what made
! it so late as we received mail from
the 18th of November and 10th of De-
cember and here it is the oath, two
months on the way.
AS l wrote the letter you answer
ed of September 10, We were then
just off of the st. Mihiel' drive and
from there to the Argonne. l can't
tell you much about it now, but when
get home l can tell you more. At
least, I went through it all and am
feeling fine ard in the best of health
so / can call myself lucky. Came
through all the dangers but was sure
scared once IT. while. l saw every
thing at once several times.
| / am glad to hear that everything
is fine at home and everyone is WELL
So Arthur came near coming over.
Well I'm glad he didn't have to come
and he not being well yet. l don't
suppose he had to go to camp at ali.
We have certainly had fine weather
here this year to what we had last. 1t
hasn't showed but once and that was
only little, it has rained quite a lot
though.
Well, must close, hoping to hear
from you often and to see you soon.
| an as ever, your son and brother,
Alvin Acker. .-
| Commended BY General Pershing.
| Alvin Acker, now with the A. E. F..
in France, has sert his parents, Mr..
and Mrs. Charles Acker, of Augusta,
Wis, copy of general orders, which
were issued about the time the armis-
tice was signed. The orders are as
G. H.. Q. American Expeditionary
ForceS.--Fra1.ce, November 10, 1918.
follows:
One. The commander in chief de-
sires to make of record iE the general
orders Of the American Expeditionary
Forces his extreme satisfaction with
the conduct of the officers and sol
diers of the First division in its adj
vance west of the Meuse between
October and IL, 1918. During this
period the division gained distance
of seven kilometers over a country
which presented not only remarkable
facilities for enemy defense, but also
great difficulties of terrain for the
| operation of our troops.
Two. The division met with re-
sistance from elements of eight hos
tile divisions, most of which were
first class troops and some of which
were completely rested. The enemy
chose to defend it's position to
the death, and the fighting was al
ways of the most desperate kind
Throughout the operations the officers
and meE of the division displayed the
highest type of courage, fortitude and
self-sacrificing devotion to duty. In
addition to many enemy killed, the
division captured one thousand four
hundred and seven of the enemy,
thirteen 77mm., field guns, ten trench
mortars and numerous machine guns
and stores.
Three. The success of the division
in driving a deep advance into the
lenemy's territory enabled an assault
to be made on the left by the neigh
boring division against the northeast
). ern portion. of the Forest of Argonne,
and enabled the First division to ad-
vance to the right and outfiank the
ienemy's position in front of the divi-
sion on that flank.
Four. The commander in chief has
noted in this division a special pride
of service and high state of morale,
never broken by hardship nor battle.
Five. This order will be read to all
organizations at the first assembly
after its receipt.
, By command of General Pershing.
James w. .McAndrew, Chief of Staff
/ Official: Robert c. Davis, adjutant
general.
Alvin has been with the First divi-
/ sion since June of 1917 and in one OF
his letters to his parents, ne said that
he never was sorry he joined the col :
ors, because he was with the First
division, the best in the army.
Washington, d. c., February a.
The war department issued a casu-
atty list today in which there were
40S casualties reported. The Mime
sofa men are as follows:
y Killed in action, Private Glenn M