Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1919-01-10
FRObi A JACKSON BOY
With The 3OTR DIV.
Somewhere in France
November Is, 1918
Monday NIGHT.

Monday NIGHT.
Dear Fred:-Your letter was glad
ly received yesterday, and was also
a surprise to me. | never thought |
OF getting letter from you. Well
| am glad you wrote me as long a !
letter as you did in answer to the
little card | sent you. had for
gotten all about sending you one of
those cards. Anyhow am glad 1
got the letter from you and I ap-
preciate it very much.
Yes, if you had been over here
about the time the boys went over
the top you would have thought
we-or rather they-were going
South with the cat birds. Now |
want you to get this thing right.
Don't think TINT | was in the front
lines for | was not. The closest
ever got to the front lines was in
about four miles; so you can see
that | wasn't going over the top
with the boys at ALL 1t is almost
p, rfectly safe that far back from
the lines But that didn't keep the
aeroplanes from coming overhead
at night. nor did it keep the long
distance guns from bursting all
around. / would follow the line as
it moved up. AS the fr0h. w
would advance / would 60 llltIe
farther; so during the Bellecourt
drive they went so fast that l could
not keep within four miles of the
front lines. But began to think
once I was getting along pretty
well. When | arrived at one town
the Germans were lying around
everywhele. l saw one Fritz's head
troiled back and forth across the
road two or hree d VS.
before it was moved; some of
their legs would be hanging up in
trees and the shoe still on the foot.
| One instance saw was a wagon, or
part of it, hanging upi in tree, shot
up there by big gun or a bomb.
And the battle fields were just like
they had been ploughed. There
are holes in the fields over ten feet,
some of them large enough to put
q house the size u Blum" Walkers
in. | guess you think | am kind of
stretching things little, but it is
about true, Fred
Fred, | would not worry about
, the matter when 1 tried so many
times to get into the service and
could not; would be content and
not worry about it at all; you made
} six attempts to get in; | think you
have shown your patriotism even
though you cannot join the service
. You mentioned something abou
the influenza killing so many peo
pie. | guess there are a good many
: people dying with it, but look a
. the soldiers that were killed the da!
! the war stopped, to say nothing o
, the time back of this. had tn
!, influenza myself and thought wa
. never going to get well at all. wa
: in the hospital for about five or 81;
y days; then after | got back to tn
. company they were ready to NOV
q farther on down the road. So
y haven't had time to write any lei
ters at all in about two weeks.
: put in pretty good time yesterda!
r Though.
You mentioned the Belgians:
stayed in that nation for about tw
months, and would like to be thel
tonight, for I had me sure enoug
girl; and talk about loving! She SUI
II could do that stunt. She called
'corressiDg, Well, it was all rigl
Us for me! | had myself time viii
o., we were up in Belgium. We no
H., Metz today.
SIS | was glad to get the clipping, ar
I'll it was pretty good, too. If W
could have seen the 30th Divisit
OF going over the top you would ha,
a. thought the yanks were going
10 | .taaH of cOr1inG and they sJlre n