Grants Pass daily courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1919-1931, 1919-01-07
SOLDIER LETTERS
Albert Allyn Crosses ON the "orixba"
NoVemher "a 1918


November "a. 1918
/ Dear Dad;
The Stars and Stripes" the news
paper for the members OF the A. Il,
F. in France. has named this day
Fathers Day" and each soldier is
supposed to write a Christmas letter
to his dad.
The censorship has been lifted
and We can write just about any
thing we please. The mail authori-
ties are going to put forth a special
effort to get these letters delivered
by Christmas so here goes.
| will try and tell you everything
that l have done since / left the
states and l may repeat some things
have told you. but will tell them
again just to make connected
story.
On October 4th, soon after noon
mess, we got orders to roll our packs
and get ready to leave Camp Mills
for the port of embarkation. After
the packs were rolled we had to
clean up the tents and company
street so that everything would be
left In good condition. When this
was done We had our supper and
then all we could do was wait until
time to go. We built a big fire out
OF the refuse we had left and sat
around 1t singing and telling stories
until O'Clock in the morning. Then
the order came to fall in and we put
on our packs and hiked to the train,
the last real train we were to ride in
for some time. We got to New York
about noon and then took the ferry
for Hoboken. There were several
big transports lying at their piers
all camouflaged with blues and
greens and blacks and whites in all
manner of queer shapes. We had
to wait several hours with our packs
on while certain details were arrang-
ed and the Red Cross gave us hot
coffee and buns while we waited. We
, finally went up the gang plank and
, were assigned to "C' deck. The top
deck was the boat deck and below
that A, B, c, D and E. Our ship
was the "Orizaba," rather a small
ship compared with most of the
transports but she could make good
time. We laid at the pier that night
I and all the next day and left that
night about II o'clock. After the
second day out our platoon had tc
do lookout duty as told you before
!. | was assigned to the crowsnest
s lswith lieutenant and another pri
vate. We would be on duty for one
hour and off two for "a hours ant
:, the next "a we would be off duty
We all had to wear life belts every
minute of the day and night but they
e were made just like a coat so they
e were not bothersome.
O Every morning at a little befor,
daybreak and every evening Just be
fore it got dark everybody woult
have to get out on the upper deck
and stay there until it got light o.
y dark, as that was the time when tn,
submarines got in their dirty work
but we were very lucky and didn'
see sign of a submarine, although
the first night l was on lookou
duty / imagined / saw one in ever,
wave. We had two other transport
!. and one destroyer ins our convoy I'm
til we got day out from our desti
nation. Then we were met by 81,
other destroyers 80 that we wer
n pretty well protected. On the morn
r ing of the ninth day, Just before day
J. break, the lieutenant with me in tn,
II crows nest saw a lighthouse and
l. few minutes later ! saw another anC
e the other fellow saw a hill ant
n we all heaved sigh Of relief because
a we knew we would be on land agar
z pretty soon. Just about noon w
dropped anchor in the harbor o.
Brest on the western coast of France
and never saw such sight. There
were S5 transports in the harbor be
sides all the other craft. In the dis
e tance up on the hill was the city
e with its white buildings and greer
fields and It made a scene well