The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-03

mingham, bringing my soldier-ooy guar
 tet, The Blue and Gray Quarter with
 me. Each day during our three weeks Of
 battle it was my duty to search the wooded hills and ravines for the wound-
 ed and dead, sending the latter back and
 burying the dead where we found them.
 During the one period of 2i hours it was
 estimated that the boche threw 50.eoo
 shells of all kinds into a short half-mile
 area within our sector. I had two squads
 l6 men, Tn my burial detail, and notwith-
 standing the fact that sometimes H. E. s
 (high explosives) burst within 10 feet Of
 us. and shell splinters went hurting past
 us thousands of times. we all came out
 of the conflict unwounded. ungassed
 ''undead." unconquered, and-unsung.
 The boys told me afterward that they
 would have gone anywhere with me, for
 they came to believe that-as they ex-
 pressed it--''I had horseshoes hanging all
 over me" To tell the truth, yours truly
 went about his duty in rather fatalistic
 manner, bef1eving-"if we are to get it.,
 nothing can prevent if We are not to get it, nothing can harm us" Of course I didn't pick out barrages for my men to go through, but in spite of all precau- tions we passed through five.
 We'll, I'll not weary you with nara tive that lacks the thrill because you can't hear the big ones coming over, and unloading like Nthunderstorm the whizzbang, with their devilish sound, and @you can't see the horrible sequel to | the boehe artillery fire. Suffice it to say. we were not a bit disappointed on No vember II, when the armistice was signed, though we didn't go as wild over it as the folks back home did, for the simple reason 1 presume that we were already fed up on thrills at the front. As the days passed, however, 1t dawned upon us gradually that cessation of hos tilities was present day miracle, and we began to be more and more thankful Now, we are all longing for home, and in imagination I have crossed the At lantic many times.
 Many times since leaving Alabama memory has carried me back to my visit to Birmingham at the time of the 1 third Liberty Loan. Those, to me, were never-to- be-forgotten days. Since then l have been singing the praises Of your l towny the most patriotic I've ever visited | I have tried many times to recall the names of some of the hustlers met there. For instance. Pete's last name has evaded me like ghost. The same is true of the Doctor with whom l stayed sev- | eral nights. Was it Mason? I'm mighty 1 poor on names. but of course will never forget "Tutwiler' and Birmingham Age Herald" One was dandy hostelry and the other treated me ace high As regimental postmaster 1 noticed the other day that Colonel Pope. our regi-
 mental commander. mailed letter to Gus Pope, Birmingham, Ala. I must as' i the colonel if said Gus is the real estate broker I met as county director of the T. L. L. Colonel Pope came to us as a
 regular from the cavalry.
 1 AS 1t is 50 uncertain when we will re
 turn to the good old U. s. A, will you drop me a line via Mrs. Emily p. Coon
 42 Webster street. East Lynn. Mass, my mother to whom I will cable as soon as we know our sailing date. Remember
 me very kindly to Mrs. Coffin and the
 children. As to yourself, l am. as ever your sincere friend
 1~as1 THE CAPTAIN" | O., K, Warren P. Coon, Captain-Chap- l lain, 18th infantry, American Expedi-
 tionary Forces. France.
 | Pete referred to in letter is MT. P
 M. Smith; the doctor Is Dr. J. M. Mason now a major in the service.