Williams news., 1919-01-03

ten inches thick and is cut il
 sizes which are most conven tent for the men to handle. MT
 Reese and several others are al
 so filling their ice houses. Ice
 is plentiful and an abundant
 harvest is assured, with the
 present low temperature.
 ing to locate our artillery and
 didn't but it was feared they
 might. The cannons were all setting hub to hub. When the
 barrage went over in the morn
 ing they made noise enough te
 shake all the stars out of place. We'll, the doughboys made
 Jerry turn tail and head for home in hurry, and when the
 line was broken that time the crown heads in Germany took notice and the morning of Nov.
 II, at eleven a. n.. the firing ceased for the first time in four years and a few months.
 It seemed funny at first to see all the houses and not to hear the guns and the roar of the air planes.
 We belong to the army of occupation and we will be in Germany in a short time. This town isn't shot up. This town is beyond the line that the Ger mans held when the papers were signed. The last town we were at was Stenay. Only few shells had hit that town. Sunday, Nov. 24). I didn't eet to finish your letter last night so will finish it tonight. We broke camp and moved this mc~nin~ and made long move. I said I thought it would be some where in Belgium but we only went thru Belgium. We passed thru big fort, or rather it was once a fort. It is on the French side about two kilometers from the border. The walls were all of thirty or forty feet thick and twice as high. There are two walls around the fort and out. side of each is deep canal about fifty feet wide or wider. The inside of the fort was once a large town but the Germans laid it low in the advance in 1914. Most of the walls of the fort were left standing but very little of the town is stand ing.
 The Belgian people show their appreciation to the sol diers more than any other I have seen. In one town I saw q sign over door "Honneur de Liberatuer". It means welcome to our liberators. The Tanks freed this part of the country. We are in Luxemburg in a small city named Mersch. In the square in this town was a large arch of fir trees and deco rated with flags and a large sign, "For Our Deliverers''. We may make one or two more stops in Luxemburg, then we will be in Germany and camped along the Rhine. The people in Belgium call out to the trucks as we pass, Viva La Americ."
 We don't hear much of that in this part of the country. All the flags are out and the town is we'll decorated, but there are lots of Pro-Germans. The far 5her towards Germany we get the more the German crops out.
 This is the prettiest part of France and Belgium is a pretty IS a pretty country. I hope to near that our move in the near future. is the big move. We nave been moving on an aver age of once a week. I don't nave the least idea how long we VIII serve as occupation troops.
 We have been told that to serve in the enemy territory is conferred upon the nine divis- 1 Ions as an honor.
 1 am trying to send you a 6oche helmet as a Christmas present. 1 picked it up on the V erdun front right close to where the fighting stopped. A dead Roche laid within a short distance of it.
 A Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 10 the whole .amily. Give my love to