The Butler weekly times and the Bates County record. (Butler, Mo.) 1918-1950, 1919-04-24

=
stuff was in terrible shape and that
our march discipline was bad and all
that. But if those inspectors had
had to carry pack they would have
been little more lenient. We had a
chance to- clean up bit and were
ready to hit the road, feeling conf
dent that there Mss- not division
in the A. f. F. which looked, as we'll
| On December Ist. we marched
across the bridge at Remick and set
foot on German soil tor the first
time. The German armies had re-
treated before us and left the roads
in terrible condition, but we never
theless covered the distance laid
down for us each day in mighty
creditable way. The c. O. used to
come down the line and tell us how
fine we looked which surely was an
encouragement and made us buck I'D
and stick to it in spite of sore feet
and heavy packs.
The second days march. in Ger
many brought US over to the Soar
river at Saarburg and from there the
billy country and bad roads made
marching very difficult. From De-
cember grid to the 9TH, we liked
over hills, most of them uphills,
through forests and towns, stopping
at night too late to read the names
of the places on the lamp post and.l
rising early so glad to leave that no |
one cared what the town was called |
can assure you, Mother, that the
old pack became heavier every day.
The roads were ankle deep with
mud. When we reached Semmern
the walking improved and we looked
forward to the next stretch on good
roads which went down hill to-. the
Rhine. ~
On December 9th we moved out
at 8 o'clock from towns west of the
general line, 'Rheinbollen Lessen
field, and at 2 o'clock found our
selves on the bank of the Rhine.
There before us was the historical
Rhine which somebody said Caesar
1ad crossed a long while ago and
where the old barons had built
castles on the tops of the n1Duntains
IN each side i'll fortified places.
We had four days rest on the
Rhine and on the morning of the
5th we marched down the Rhine to
-oblenz.
. 1t is nice big town. Some one
old me that some one knows that /
We made wonderful march consid- c
ring the handicaps we were under. +
We covered a total distance of 225
niles in seventeen marching days. {
t certainly was one of the most his
orical marches ever made by Ameri-
an troops and |, for one, am glad
hat | made it with the third divis- a
IN. II
There is one thing that | hope | h
ever have to do, and that is to a
larch back again to France. Some a
ne gave me little light ON the d
ubject of our next move and said i
'hen we leave here to go back to S
he good old United States, we will )
e put on one of those big scows
nat go swiftly down the Rhine and
lat we would embark on liner at n
.otterdam bound homeward. This p
all little premature, but it is S
wfully good to think about. "
We are stationed along the Rhine o
ding work with the army of occupa- p
on. Ct
We have been in one place for e:
Tree months, the longest time in tt
ne place since l have been in the o.
my. tt
Well, mother, | will tell you
W of the prices of things in Ger
any. Eggs are $I.5o dozen; hens, Ia
Loo apiece; and geese are $2.27 a e,
ound. 4,
This letter was written on my d
rthday, the first birthday l ever m
,perienced in~ Germany. In;
Your son. &c
Dell R. Wilson, Or
Co. F, 4th u. S. Inf, re
i. P.-O. 74o A. E. F. DC