The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-08-12
FLORIDA BOY IN FRANCE

Mrs. Martha Williams of this city
has received the following letter from
her grandson, Gabriel Lee Jr., who is
with the A.NE. F. in France:
Paris, July %.
Dear Grandmother: / wonder how
much you will be surprised to hear
from me from this quarter of the
world? l have often wanted to write
you long letter all about the things
have seen and the wonderful exper-
fences that have been mine since COM
ing here early in January, but some
thing seemed always to prevent it.
Now / will take advantage of a long
wanted opportunity.
After spending over six months at
Chaumont, France, the American
general headquarters was moved to
Paris. Arrived here on the 11th of
this month. Headquarters is estab-
lished at Paris until the work is fin
ished-and then we will go home.
don't think it will be long now. The
work of the judge advocate generals
Office for the A. E. F. is nearly COM
pleted and another month should see
me home. There are not many SOL
diers left in France or Germany now,
and there are twenty transports wait
ing at Brest to take them home as
fast as they can be sent to the base
por.
The most important event here
since my arrival was the French cele-
bration of the victory of the allied
armies, on July 18th. 1t was the most
magnificent parade l have even seen,
or indeed ever hope to see. / wish
you could have seen the boulevards
of Paris during the "Grand Defle." d"
Champs Elysees, Avenue des Italiens
and the Grandes Boulevards to see the
historical pageant; and l don't think, l
have ever seen more human souls con-
gregated in one place at once time,
than | saw at the Place de la Concorde
during the march of triumph. 1t was
a glorious night; it certainly did JUS
tice to the bigness of the occasion,
and it made impressions on me that
1 shall never forget. I am sending
you a picture of the crowds in the
"Place." l was there on the left of
the picture for a while-see if you
can find me. All of the great gen.
erals and marshals rode in the parade,
and it was picture to see how well
General Pershing sat his saddle. If
you have an opportunity to see NOV
ing pictures of the Partisan celebra-
tion-don't miss it. / know you will
enjoy it. / have seen it also, here in
Paris-and it is quite wonderfully; al
most as much so as the real parade.
Every kind of soldier and sailor of the
allied armies was represented in the
victorious march. The most pictur-
esque of all were the Arabs (Alge-
rians) in their long flowing robes OF
white, and corded turbans.. They are
wonderful horsemen, and rode their
steeds just like the warriors they
really are. They were the best mount
ed troops.
A battalion of picked American
troops led the procession. They made
a splendid showing, much better than
that made by any of the other foot
soldiers. That, of course, was only
natural, and to be expected. Even
the French applauded loudest when
the doughboys marched past. This is
the best proof of the showing they
made-and the regard in which they
are held in this foreign land. 1t took
three hours to watch the entire ode
file" march by-and when it was final
ly ended l had seen enough for one
day, | am sure. 1t was a curious
sight to see people using periscopes
to see over the heads of their taller
comrades. Those instruments seemed
to be quite useful and worked fine.
Even on the tops of the large hotels
and apartment houses, great tempo
rary grandstands were constructed to
accommodate the crowds, eager to
spend hundreds of francs for a seat
and good view. Some seats in win
dow balconies along the line of march
brought as high as four thousand
francs. Just think of it. You see the
people are willing to pay for peace
and patriotism. For the money was
mostly used for patriotic institutions.
In the evening of the 14th, a torch
light procession was held along the