Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1919-02-05
SOLDIERS LETTERS
FROM OTTO BERNDT.

Prum, Germany, Dec. 21, 1918.
Dear Friend Sherman:
~ a year ago someone had told me
that would spend Christmas of 1918
somewhere in Germany / would per-
haps have doubted their word. New
ertheleSs, Prum, Germany, is where l
Will spend tomorrow. This unit is
part OF the army of occupation and
moved up here short time after the
signing of the armistice. Prum is a
city in the Rhine Provinces and about
l2O kilos from the Rhine. Before the
war it was an educational center but
the buildings that were at that time
used for schools have been by us
transformed into a large hospital. 1t
does seem great to have a hospital
in buildings like these where we
have steam heat and electric light.
after not being accustomed to things
like that for a long time
| will tell you little of our trip
up here. 1t took us ten days to get
here but the most of that time was
spent on side tracks. Part of the trip
was across the old battlefields that
were torn full of chell holes and the
railroads were still in poor condition
We crossed Alsace-Lorraine, went
through Treves and spent a day side
tracked at Coblenz. Because we were
restricted to the vicinity of our Pull
mans (box cars) we could not see
any OF the city or the Rhine river.
We then came back through Treves
and then north to Prum.
To travel through Germany one
would hardly know that you were in
q NOnnfTU fhof haC fnv
four years. / have not seen any signs
of starvation or i'll nutrition. The
poorer classes show a few signs of
hardship and suffered most. Where
they did suffer was in the larger cit
les. What brought Germany to terms
most was not a lack of resources but
the continual hammering she got
since the tide turned at Chateau
Thierry on July Is. At no time since
then did she have time to reorganize
her armies.
The civilians are simply treating us
great and this l can't quite under
stand. 1t seems as if they can't do
enough for us. 1t is because of two
things; partly because they are at our
mercy, or perhaps it is more propa-
ganda and they are trying to approach
us through sympathy. The latter at
this stage of the game is useless.
Those of us with the hospital sleep
in the private houses throughout the
town. I was assigned to my room
yesterday and when / went to turn in
in the evening | saw before me, the
first time for almost a year, a real,
honest to goodness bed When I roll
ed in l sunk away down deep in the
feathers and was soon dreaming of
home. I am satisfied to stay right
here until they get ready to send me
back
Since June Is until fighting ceased,
it was one continual grind in the hos
pital. 1t was a common occurrence
to work and work hard for so or 20
hours without sleep and eating a lit
tie now and then just as you would
find time. We handled 81 per cent of
the patients on the Chateau-Thierry
front. Later we moved near Verdun
where we received patients from the
ArgOnne sector. From June Is up to
the signing of the armistice this hos
pital has handled just a few more
than $1,000 patients, has done 10000
operations and the percentage of
deaths has been exceedingly small.
The number of those who made the
supreme sacrifice in the hospital was
53S. Each and every one of us work
ed as we never toiled before. / feel
as if / had done my bit and am ready
to return. Anyone who has been over
here the last six months has done his
bit / am now taking care of 16 flu
patients and all l hear them talking
about is going back. The day for us
to start back across the pond can't
come any too soon.
Tomorrow is Christmas and a good
dinner is waiting for us. The Red
Cross and Y M. c. A. are busy this
evening getting things ready for us
for tomorrow. Outside of that ten of
us have a feed fixed up for tomorrow
evening. These Germans around here
sure know how to cook. 1t is now
time for me to go on duty so must
close Best wishes to all.
Pfc. Otto Berndt.