The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1919-03-07
HEARING FROM THE BOYS.
Lieut., Robert Jackson.


jackson, of the Big Lake district, in
"a recent letter 10 his parents, writes
most Interestingly about his expert.
cnccs cover there"
lie began his military career by
going 10 the Mexican border a. u
member Of Company l.. and on the
coming on Of the war with Germany
he took The Officers training course,
and was promoted 10 the rank Of
First Lieutenant, and transferred "a
another company and regiment. but
served IN the same division. the 3jth.
We arc glad to know that he has
made both splendid soldier and Of
ficcr, and his many friends will doubt
less read his letter with great inter.
est.
l.crouvillc. France. Jan. 20. 1919.
My Dear Mother aud Father:
You arc now 20 read that long look
cr-for letter which will tell YOU whore
! have been and what | have done
in France. II docs not seem 10 me
that ! have seen very much. although
! have been from the north 10 the
south Of France, and have spent over
half Of my time In the front line or
in the front area.
The day We landed In France @
Havrc, the preparation for front line
duty began. First we liked to ware.
house. where cacn man was given A
gas mask and also u little instruction
in it, use. On this hike We saw our
first Bochc, who were prisoners. Our
men could hardly stand TO pass them
by without having something to say
10 them. Those men Who spoke Ger
man told them what TO expect from
U. S.
Our next move was to get rid of
all extra clothing aud equipment not
suited 10 front line duty. So when we
broke camp each man had only tho
clothing he wore. Nus extra socks AMI
underwear Their other equipment
was as follows: One English rifle,
bayonet, cartridge belt, pack carrier.
mess outfit, ammunition, cantccn,
steel helmet, blankets, and shelter
tent, pole and tent pins. They also
had the necessary toilet articles.
We boarded train and in about
four days We arrived ut Eu, In the
Sommc, where We spent about ten
days with the English. who were our
instructors.
The little village of tu Is near
Calais. We heard for the first time
the roar Of the big guns, and also
heard the roar Of exploding bombs
being dropped from lBo,hc planes. Nv.
crything was exciting and every man
longcd TO see the front line.
but things did not 40 rs well as
we desired for our men did not like
the English way of doing things, 50
10 our pleasure, we were ordered To
the American sector. We went to
Espinal, and during our whole time We
were either north or south of that
point.
My regiment was stationed at n lit
tie village named Donue. We were
there but Il few days, when our bat
talon was ordered 10 the front. Vt
the same time | received orders to re-
port to Major Going, who was IN
charge Of detail of men going to
Marsoillcs, 10 secure a shipment OF
horses for the division. So | was
separated from my COmpany-it GO
ing 10 the front and going TO the
farthest point south In France. So
was on detached service. ! was IN this
detail known IN the 35th Division Re
mount Detachment We had three
hundred men and about IL officers.
SO many men and officers were chosen
from each regiment OF the division 10
make up the required detail. We lett
for Marseilles June %, 1918, and AR
rived at our destination, little town
outside of Marseilles, named Taras-
con, a day or two later. We were the
first American troops to enter that
come never before shown US. We
were given the best quarters they had
and anything We desired we had only
to ask for II, and It was given.
II was really a treat" for to han
die horses was nothing compared with
hiking and drilling.
During the seven weeks that We
were there, We handled about two
thousand horses and mules, They
were purchased from.'the French by
the U. S, government.
My duties were to help deliver these
horses TO the various brigades and di-
visions of the A. L. +. We did not
secure these horses only for one di-
vision, but for several divisions. So
our work was more than we expected.
We received the horses, cared for
them, and put them in shape for the
use Of the organization to which they
were TO be delivered. Usually each
organization would get as many as a
thousand horses and mules, although
they required many more than that
number.
The trains consisted of from thirty
to fifty cars, with eight horses to a
car. II all depended upon the number
Of animals we had ready for shipment.
Each trip was about four or five
days journey, going and returning. It
was quite easy going, but very much
trouble getting back-for you had a
detail Of from thirty to fifty men,
according TO the number Of cars in
your train, one man per car, to take