The north Mississippi herald., 1919-02-07
NUMBER 8


! be remembered till the end Of time.
Not only did the 140th Field Artil-
lery carry off ALL the firing honors,
but our own Brigade Commander.
Brigadier General Haynes, himself,
personally congratulated Captain
Edwin Romberger on the fact that
this organization executed the best
flre of any Battery in the entire 64th
Brigade. Had the war lasted 10 days
longer we would have been in the
Front line; we were booked to en-
bark on the very day the Armistice
was signed.
SENT TO POST VALDAHON:-
The ending of hostilities interced-
ed, and, instead, we were sent to Post
Valdahon, situated in the foothills of
the Alps, and considered the most
famous Artillery Camp in all France.
Our journey to this camp was a bit
more pleasant than our trip from
Brest to Messac. It's true we came
IN the same little cattle cars, but we
were not SO crowded. We were on
the road 2 days and nights, covered
a great deal of territory and passed
thru some very large towns among
which were Rennes, Chartres, LIE
Mans, Versailles, Dijon and Besancon.
We might as well have gone thru .he
wllds of Africa tho as far as sight
seeing was concerned. We were not
allowed to leave the cars, so you can
imagine just how much we derived
from the trip. We arrived here at
1880 at night, unloaded our guns
and equipment, marched to the bar
racks and by two O'Clock were fast
asleep. Our accommodations here
are the incest of any we have had
since we entered Service; the bar
racks are of stone; we have running
water and electric lights, there's q
stove IN each room and real Mess
hall in which to eat. The climate is
delightful-dry and cold and the alb
sence of mud is indeed q pleasure
Right now Of course we are having
some SHOWS, and the slush and wet
are to be expected. It's real winter
over here you know. We are but
half days ride from the Front. The
natural scenery around about Valda-
hon is extremely pretty. We have
done very little since we arrived at
this camp except as regards Guard
duty. This has been rather heavy as
we have had to furnish both Camp and
Regimental Guard-there being no
other detachment present except the
140th and one Battalion of the 142nd.
just now we are testing out the New
American rs NJ. NJ. Gun, an inven.,
afioat that a Schooi or r1rE,; sIinst-r
to the one at Fort Sill, will be opened
here, perhaps the last of the present
month. In that case, we in all prob
ability, shall execute the fire for 1t.
Just how long this school will last,
no one definitely knows-perhaps
months or 10 weeks. So you see it's
rather doubtful that we shall be
home within the next several months;
certainly not before latter April or
early May.
ANXIOUS TO RETURN HOME
Now that hostilities have ceased,
we are, of course, very anxious 20
return home and assume our places
in civilian life. The old town, It's
scenes and haunts, our many warm
friends and loved ones have never,
been quite so precious ana
dear to our hearts as now. Aside
from q short furlough, which, alas
passed only too soon, we have been
away for almost two years. During
that time the men of this Battery
have experienced many sides of hfs;
its joys, its sorrows, its mysteries;
we have seen many strange sights,
visited many peculiar people. We
know what it is to be hungry; We
know what it's like to be cold. And
because of this experience land OK
perience ever was and always Will
be the greatest of teachers) we are
returning to the land OF our birth.
better men-physically, morally and
spiritually-better prepared to cope
with the daily problems which VIII
confront us and assume tho real re.
sponsibilities of men, citizenship ana
life. And thru it all these men from
your home town ever remained true
to the principles of right which they
learned at their Mothers knee; they
are an honor to their home and to
the uniform which they wear. And
in conclusion, | wish, in behaI Of
Battery "a" to thank the people OF
Water Valley and Yalobusha County
for the splendid back up they gave
us. We glory in knowing that we
belong to such people as you; we are
proud Of you and we love You.
hope this article will prove OF inter-
est to our vast multitude Of friends
and that before many months shall
have elapsed that we shall all be TO-
gether once more.
DUDLEY