Arizona republican., 1919-02-02
TELLS EXPERIENCES
 FROM IRST IF WAR TO END IF FIGHT |NG

 Ackard ef Bisbee. d nephew of Mrs Parker Woodman, of this city. The letter was sent first to Ackards sister and forwarded to Mrs Woodman It follows:
 Somewhere in France. l
 11-27, '19 . Dear Sister:
 Your very welcome letter received a l few days ago, and it found me at the end of the war all c. K and d better man by my experience
 | have had of course experiences ! that great many men have not lived to tell about, although this might seem ] to you like 1 am boasting, but there is not one over here who has been to the front as my company has can describe | the situation as it actually was at the l tune of truce. that is I mean to say that to appreciate the situation as il ! Was at that time one would have to see it for one self but I will try to de- scribe things as l have seen them, and after reading this letter I wish you would send it on to Mamma and NJ. as it will no doubt interest them.
 We left New York or Hoboken on the 2Sth of March 1918, on the transport George Washington, and were 14 days coming across, although we made good time, and had good weather while crossing. there was not any thing of l interest happened on the journey, all though I might mention that the alarm was given for submarines, at one time but the object sighted. was a school of porpoise but I will say that there were several less of those fish when our ! guns ceased firing at them. as you Know the Germans at that time were ] using every known camouflage to get 1 close to our transports, but our ships took no chances and shot at everything that looked the least bit suspicious and as the world knows today the l transporting of our troops across the Atlantic was one of the biggest ana most successful undertakings that has | ever been undertaken.
 We landed in Brest. France on the 1 lIth Of April, and of course from then up to the present. time. things have been ] quite lively for us, but I cant explain | to you the gigantic scale that work and construction in general has been car rled on over here.
 From Brest, we went to St Nazara and were there for a while, building roacs dams, bridges, etc, as you know we are a highway regiment, and not assigned to any division.
 From St NaZara We came to BellvilIe. this is close to the Nerdun front close to St. Miehl. Mount Sac, and Point A 1 Mosson, so you will readily see We were at the front by August 22. and then things were becoming exceedingly in teresting. our company was sent out from Bellville in three attachments. mine was sent to a little town called Griscourt which did not have a build in n+ hut f hi is not an unusual sight here, as build ing intact, is conspicious by it's ab- Sence.
 We worked roads from here, that is to say we had charge of all road work having service troops under us, l re member the first day l went out to work close to Point A Mosson. about POO yards from an observation balloon l had with me 72 men, and we had been working about an hour, when all at once the anti-air craft guns began to fire and the machine guns joined. in.
 l looked around to tell the service troops to get under shelter, but I found out of the 72 men (colored) I was the only one left. so I got down in a ravine close by and took in the performance, which was a German airplane, trying to shoot down our observation balloon. this plane circled our balloon three times and did not get it, but l will have to hand it to this Roche, he had some nerve, after they ran him away he scooted across country, about three miles and got one of our balloons. which burned but did not get the observers. l can not figure out how he ever got out alive, for there were hundreds Of guns firing at him, but this was an
 
 say it is quite interesting to see the men jump out of the balloons, as you know when an enemy shoots balloon, it burns and burns quick, and an ob- server has ony a few secnds to jump. and he has to jump at the right time, to my mind this branch is the most dangerous arm of the service
 At. another time I saw an airplane battle. In this battle our men dropped from above the clouds on the Boche and he turned completely over, and one man fell out at a distance l would say of two thousand. feet, l could see this man as he fell out of course your mind will picture the result, Of his landing as he came down like lead, but the other fellow in the plane riShted the machine and managed to bring it down but he was wounded, and I supposed died later
 I could. write you pages about these different happenings. but hope to sec you soon and will then tell you all about them.
 St Michel is a wreck although as have told you before, it is not an un- usua1 sight for this part of the front as all of the towns are. Verdun is or was a very old city, having to enter ii through gates, and one place l had the privilege to visit was the under ground city. which is wonderful. Oi course the army is occupying this place but there is a chapel in this city that will seat about 300 men, barracks, read ing room, grocery store, commissary, ir fact it is rightly named, underground city.
 I stood in four different places ir Verdun trying to find one building that was not wrecked, but I failed tc locate it. Of course this was the most noticeable place l have been in along the front, as it was the largest city.
 have been in Germany but every thing there of course, is intact ano rothing out of the ordinary for a sold fer over here to see, although l will say that I regret that we did not have the opportunity of wrecking some of theil sacred towns. as they have wrecked the towns of this part of France. was in Luxemberg. You know this is supposed to be an independen Duchy, in Germany, but have alway: believed. otherwise.
 am now located in Eliny, a smal wreck of France, but expect to move , soon.
 +-to fn tp1l