River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1919-02-06
Jan. 10. 1919.
Somewhere1n Germany

Jan. III, 1919.
Somewhere In Germany
| Dear Mother:
Several of the boys of our Co.
have received their Christmas boxes
but so far | haven't been among the
lucky ones. Our company is now
located in a small town not far from
the Rhine, but as we are in a valley
we are not in sight of that historic
river. We are billeted in a large
hotel building which was evidently
built for the accommodation of tour
lists in the piping times of peace"
In some ways our quarters are quite
luxurious, but closer examination
shows that the splendor is rather
barren after all, for there is not
much furniture left in the estab-
lishment. Those of us who hold the
rank of mere privates sleep on straw
ticks on the floor. There are cleo
trio lights and running water, so we
are pretty we'll satisfied after being
billeted in barns, lofts, etc., as we
had to in France and on our march
to the Rhine. / told you in a prev
ious letter that [ was in the st. Mi
hiel Drive during the middle of Sep
TENDER. After we were relieved
there we stayed back of the lines for
about two weeks, and then our Div
ision, the End, was sent to sector
east of Rheims, on the Champagne
front. Just before the company
went into action | was detailed to
stay in reserve with what is called
the 20 per cent reserve. 1t is Gus
tomary in our division to always
hold that number in reserve for any
emergency work. On this account
| missed getting into the front line
trenches here, but had the pleasure
~ ~ of getting into the region where
the big shells were dropping. From
here ] was obliged to go to hospi-
tai in Paris for month on account
of an infected ankle.
| After getting out, | rejoined my
company on Sunday, Nov. 10, just
the day before the armistice was
signed. / found they had started
on another drive in the Argonne
Forest on Nov. l and had not yet
been relieved, although they were
then simply in reserve and had not
been holding the front line for sew
eral days. That night we were or
dered to advance and cross the
Meuse river. We advanced all right
but for some reason our battalion
did not attempt to make crossing.
The Huns entertained us for while
| by dropping shells little too close
for comfort, but practically all of
them failed to do any harm. The
next morning at IL o'clock the sill
. |
around the world and we knew that
in all probability our battle exper-
fences were over for good. And
you may we'll imagine that there
was mighty feeling of relief on
the part of all of us when the cessa-
ton Of hostilities confirmed the re-
ports we had heard about the sign
ing of the armistice.
On the night of Nov. IL we moved
across the Meuse and took up our
positions there for a day or two.
We were then relieved and moved
; to a small village in the rear to pre-
pare for our historic hike into
Deutchland. We started on that trip
Nov. II and arrived here about a
month later. We passed through
small section Of BelgiuM and our
passage was made a regular tri-
umphal march by the enthusiasm of
the inhabitants. They were wild
with JOY over their liberation from
German rule, and were out en-masse
to cheer US as we passed. Their
towns and villages were decorated
with flags, bunting, evergreen trees
and whatever they could find that
they thought would express happi-
/ ness Tn ono section hands escorted
US from one town to the next and
also a crowd of grateful people
marched along beside US. This
march through Belgium was the
most enjoyable part Of the hike.
That infected ankle gave me
/ trouble again on the march and