The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1919-02-13
Letters from
Harry G. Rhodes

Mrs. e. r. Pittman of the -Four Mile
district is in receipt of two letters Of
recent date from her brother, Privste
Harry G. Rhodes, who is with the
American expeditionary army in
OF January 1e and the other January
1s. Both we're written from Bor-
deaux. He says:
Il am going to write you q short
letter to let you know that l am still
alive and feeling pretty good. have
no ailments to speak of. except q
slight cold that don't amount to much
l am getting SO used to catching colds
that it seems as If l get one every
change of the moon.
Il have not heard from any OF your
family since i have been over here.
although l believe have written to
you once or twice. got two letters a
couple Of days ago, one of them from
Grettle and the other from father. The
latter told me that he was trying to
fird out where Ray was, and Grettle
informed me OF the telegram that had
been received stating that Roy died on
September IL from wounds received
while in action on the front. II don't
seem possible that II could be true, but
suppose there can be no doubt about
it. A great many OF the soldiers are
being sent to the ports OF embarkation
for transportation home. This is
especially true Of the wounded and
those not especially needed over here
now. Although / did not know what
division Roy was in. used 10 go out
on the streets when the troops came
AID watch them march by on their
way to the docks to see II Roy was in
the bunch, but guess IL Is all fruit
less to watch for him any more.
II do not know when my regiment
will be ordered to embark. am in a
repair unit, and there are certainly
lots OF cars and trucks here that need
repairing. / was working il the mess
hall, but the lieutenant in charge has
transferred me TO the officers mess,
and am an orderly in the dining room
now. ] like the job fine. and ! get
three square meals a day and good
place to sleep. ! am getting as fat as
pig, as you will see from a picture
/ had taken a few days ago. will
get them next Monday and will send
you one.
Il got the Christmas box and the
81 bill the same day and was sure
proud of them. / am going to stay
with that 81 bill till get home. as IT
is the only American money ! have
in my possession. This country here
is great summer resort. They sure
have some fine parks with the most
beautiful statuary l ever saw. The
cemeteries and burying grounds are
unusually well kept and attractive.
IL never gets very cold here. and the
grass stays green the year round. The
trees in the parks are grand. many of
them huLdreds of years old. have
not seen any snow here yet, but there
is plenty OF rain. In fact. II rains
about eight hours out of the "a. Can
yau. as a resident of Colorado, imagine
that?"
In his letter of January 10, Mr..
Rhodes says: Il got your most well
come letter yesterday. ] think that was
a good write-up about Roy. Three OF
the boys OF the unit am working with
received letters from home about the
same time l did. in which they were
told OF their brothers being killed in
action. Two OF them lost their lives
the day before the armistice was
signed.
81 don't think It will be possible to
find out anything more about Roy's
death now that it has been officially
reported. but am going to have a talk
with my company commander. and see
what he says about the matter am
going to keep that write-up forever. !
have it in my mirror locket. which
/ am very careful about.
I'VE have tobacco issued to Us nbout
once aweek and candy not quite SO
often. At Christmas we were given
chewing gum. candy, tobacco and Gig
arets. On New Years we were pre-
sented with candy, tobacco ard apples.
so you see we were not neglected.
This is certainly a fine afternoon.
One of my chums and myself went out
in the country shortly after dinner
for a walk with little French boy,
who came around the kitchen at noon
to get something TO eat We went
by the place where he was living. Aft
erwards we walked over to a neighbor-
ing town and returned by way Of the
boys home. His mother and older
brothers met us at the gate and in
viteG US in for a visit. These people
were in business in Belgium when the
war broke out. but the Germans made
It too hot for them. and they were