The Monte Vista journal., 1919-03-15
Stiii In France.
Feb. :. 1919.

Dear Mr., consnt;
yrom tims to time receive the
uobt, vista Journal. aad Il II always
nots than interesting to . soldier
w,o has been tn sunny" France
where Il rains all the time. for nearly
A., ysBt and a half. I have read tho
letters you have printed In the Jour
,ai from tho boys over here. with
much in,,rcat. Il seems that the
newly arrived soldiers are always III.
mos, homesick. Tho longer you stay
In France the better you like tho U,
sA "A seem to bc shout the only
member OF the goth Rcs. Engineers
over here. from Monte. I will tell
you fow things about tho regiment,
landed In France In Nov. 1917
with the frat Of tho goth Reg. which
by the way Is the iarscat regiment In
the world. We landed at 81. Nagairc
one foEgy morning after an exciting
hrht and night frota u-boats near
Belle Islands.
As tho spinal meningitis was rag
lng In our batallions at the time of
dobarkation. we were put In 81
day quarantine. In . mud hole near
the edge OF the city. From there the
Timber wolvca" were scattered all
over the map Of Europe. Some 60
ing to the front lines. some to the
Alps. some to the Pyrcnces. and
some to Italy. Immediately after ar
rivins at the forests We sct to work
falling timber. building roads.
bridges and drain bitches. Shortly
before XmaS 1917 our machinery
arrived and the Lumber Jacks"
from the U. 8. A. proceeded to all
Uncle Sans rush orders for millions
OF II. X. ties. artillery road plants.
bridge ,imbers. pilinE. chuck boards.
switch timbers. and any other article
on the wood market you might care
to mention. even to artificial limbs.
A double shift was put on and the
mills kept cutting night and day for
n year. Rain or shine the Huskies
from Tie Northwest wcre out and at
1t. When the days grew shorter log
cling operations went on ten full
hours just the same.
Some OF our boys went over the
divide by the tomb Route. some by
the hu route and some crossed the
divide by accident. Most of US are
still here hitting the ball. Many OF
our boys went to the Tank corps and
sapper Regiments and made such u
hne showing that more woods Saw
ages were Immediately In demand.
1t takes all kinds of men to make
world. The same fact applies to
the 10th Regiment. We have men
In this company from every state in
the Union, from Alaska, Canada.
Australia. Italy. Greece. Mexico and
several other countries.
As far as hardships 20, we had a
plenty the first six months we were
here. There were no barracks built
LOT American troops then and our
pup tents were our mansions. A
mess line with 500 hungry men in II
Is another matter to study about. ]
mean you have to use your head to
get something to eat. Moral, don Il
De found in the rear.)
Speaking of live stock. we had all
Kinds, American draft horses. car
rage horses, German horses, Spanish
mules and Canadian mustangs. When
We aidnt have shoes for them we
made them out OF wagon tires or any
o'her kind OF iron we could get our
hands on.
When We first scattered out over
france and Its surrounding territory,
we were curiosity for the populace
" gaze upon, being among the first
americans to come to France. The
'n''dren would follow US through the
streets like the Americans were a