The Coconino sun., 1919-01-10
CLARENCE PULLIAM
 UPSET ON THE OCEAN

SS1NSu ehS ioiio"ihS iStISi lioiH Hti son Clarence, on active service in France. The letter is a great deal more interesting than it could have been before the censorship was mod flied:
 Dear Folks:
 Wrote you a couple of times lately but as mail conditions are somewhat uncertain l will again tell you that am getting along fine and feeling the best in the world. The only time that I have felt little upset was coming over the big pond. About the first five days of the trip I lost all the lunch l had eaten for at least two weeks previous, but the remainder of the trip was o. K., notwithstanding storm as we neared Europe.
 Shortly after landing at Brest we were sent to Etalans which is a very short distance from the Swiss borde, and near Belfort on the old line. The nearest large town west of Etalans is Besancon, which was built by Julius Ceasar in 55 B. c. This is very in- teresting town with the ancient forts on the hill tops surrounding it, (the town being located in a canyon) the old churches and stauary, and the greatest Swiss jewellers in the world the first of whom were brought into France by Napoleon.
 In travelling from the coast to that location we entirely crossed France and saw some very beautiful country and cities, the details of which l will be able to tell you in lot less time than it would take to read them, and l expect to be talking to you in per son before many moons, anyway.
 At present 1 am at Bordeaux on the coast, having been detached from my company and sent here to school, but l will be sent back to my organization as soon as l finish my course in a few days. On this last trip came a different route and saw different country and cities and was carried a part of the way by an American loco motive. Bordeaux is one of the large cities of France, but being so close to the coast, it is quite foggy. Oul tent is under some trees and as the water is constantly dripping on it we get the impression that it is raining and naturally sleep like logs when the time comes to hit the hay, conse- quently have not written much since being here.
 l have moved around so much late ly that have only received one let ter since being in France, and that was relating incidents that happened in October, so you see 1 can't learn very much about what is going on around home. And if our company is lucky enough to be sent back soon the mail may never reach me.
 You, like many other parents, have undoubtedly worried about our condi- tion over here in the army. There is absolutely no need for such, for we have everything one could desire un- der the circumstances. You would &C., tually be surprised at the convenient ces our army has, being so far from home and with such congested trans portation conditions. But 1 will be perfectly willing to pull back when my time comes to move. You know it will feel pretty nice to get back into a civilian suit and put pair of feet under a home table and eat home-cooked chow after eating off d board table on the ground for about a year. l have missed revielle and slept in a real bed once since being in the army and that was in Besancon a couple of weeks ago. l was given a pass and sent to town Saturday night, so while there got a haircut, shampoo, bath and a real bed with linen sheets, and had my old mind fixed to sleep as long as 1 pleased the next morning. This was all fine but my intentions had gone a little too far. laid in the soft bed and tossed around until l finally went to sleep in the wee sma' hours of the morn ing and woke up at the regular time for revielle. If l had only had sense enough to roll out and flop on the hard have slept like log. ..r..
 Those French beds of which spoke are the original sure-enough beds, too. The feather mattress is so thick that it takes an athlete or else a step- ladder to help one get into bed and derrick to help one get out. Then on top of the silk mattress cover arc the extra heavy pure linen sheets and then the soft, artistic, silk-covered down comforters. If a fellow freezes in an outfit like that, he is a cold-b!ooded creature. But a soldier has to get used to such luxuries before he feels comfortable. You understand that this is little exaggerated for we have straw ticks and beds of some sort most of the time.
 I suppose that some of the boys that didn't get across are landing back home now. Hope so, anyway. Al though we are moving so much that 1 haven't time to write all or even speak of all my friends in my letters, think of a number of them many times.
 We'll, I must ring off for this time and go to my tent as 1 am writing in school at present. Give my best to Charlie and all my friends. Heaps of love. Your son,
 CLARENCE PULLIAM.