Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1919-01-02
Letter from Harry Walton
Camp Gordon, Ga.
Dec. 8, 1918.


Camp Gordon, Ga.
Dec. 8, 1918.
Dear Bunch:
| am in the depths, sunk clear in
over my head and, so far as can see
now, there is not much chance of
ever coming up The reason is they
have heaped the crowning insult of
all on my poor defenseless old head.
This week all but few. are to be sent
home and Of course Rm one of those
few. Fourteen all told must stay in
each company as the permanent train
ing cadre, the rest will be sent to the
camp nearest their home and then
discharged. l have hupch that we
won't be here longer than two or three
weeks at that, but there are few
delr,ded siraps who maj intain that we
wal be h9sc til 3e15say soldier in
France is hack. If that is the case we
will be here two years or more. Can
you beat it?
{ Has George gone to California yet?
I know it is about his leaving time
and say, who is the champ? / haven't
had a cue in my hand since left
home with the exception of about
three games of pool played over in
chambles, so guess / sure would be
ducksoup for you two sharks. No
more of those high fifty cent stakes
for yours truly until I get in some
kind of shape.
For the last three weeks we have
had the finest kind of weather down
here. just like it is at home in the
fall. l wish you were down here to
enjoy it and to be entertained by these
wild animals they call soldiers. The
stories that float around about going
home and the expression on their
faces when they hear them and the
remarks they make are better than
any vaudeville show / ever saw or
heard. If any Of these birds knew l
said that about them, they sure would
tell me what aheluva guy ! was to
talk like that when / am as bad or
worse than any Of thel and it is the
truth, am, but what is man going
to do. His howl is all that he has
which he owns all by himself, and
what mean, / sure have learned how
to exercise it. Honest, can't see for
the life of me why they picked on me
to stay. am not any better nor much
worse than any of the rest Of them
but still they have went and gone and
done it and here am and here / will
stay. In some Of the other companies
they shook the names up in a hat and
drew out the ones who were to stay
but nothing like that in my family,
O, no. In one way though, they have
been real good. We do not drill any
more, in fact we do nothing but eat
and sleep and smoke cigarettes which,
of course, is as it should be and should
have been from the first.
How are the girls? Give them
please, my best wishes and tell them
that if ever l see them again, I pro-
mise faithfully not to ever try and
make them mad at me again like
Ibid when we all worked together. In.
| deed am quite humble person nov
and would appreciate their kind opin
L 81 ~.
lion more than anything else. Since
came to this dam army l haven
even been close enough to womap t.
shake hands, can you beat that.
One thing more, 4 wish you coule
see this awful town Of Atlanta. It i
the poorest, most forlorn burg in tk
world. On Sunday everything is closet
up very tight, even the picture show
don't run The streets are marrow
and dirty and very, crooked and tn
merchants are lot Of highbinders
There are a lot Of other things
could say about it but | am not
profane man, as you know very vel
so just use your own best judgement
! And now one thing more before