Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1919-01-08
Billy Hayes Letter

William NJ. Hayes sends a letter
full of vividness and realism to his
father, w. A. Hayes, superintendent
of the Madison division of the North
western railway, an unusually fas-
cinating description especially of the
eagerness and expectancy just before
battle; and there is all the thrill of
line fictional climax in the sudden
interruption of the narrative and its
resumption later in a base hospital!
Young Mr.. Hayes writes from base
hospital No. 131, and on the envel-
ope scrolls Dads Xmas Letter -
timed with wonderful accuracy since
the father received it last Monday.
Dec. %, only two days before Christ
mas
A Fine Epistle.
Nov. %, 1918, Nevers, France
My dear dad: Today is Dads
day" in France. | have written to
you whenever had chance, but
this is one day l would not miss
scribbling you a few lines of my up
permost thoughts.
In one way it is a Thanksgiving
day; it's day of celebration, and a
day which is occupied with thoughts
Of dear old dad, back in that little
old white home, who is still striv-
ing to make that home the most
comfortable one in the world.
/ have been away from those good
old states long time, so don't know
the latest, but / can tell you what
has gone down in my mental diary
since ISIS Statue of Liberty sank
down into the ocean on the western
horizon
nights which / will never regret,
neither will ever forget them. This
is the day that we should thank our
dads for making it possible for us
to be where we are today and doing
the work we have about completed.
| am not very good on this pa
thetic, thanksgiving stuff, but / will
say that / realize now, more than
ever, just what a wonderful home l
had. Before / joined this army
things came easy and made their
rapid departure the same way If
there was a party on, and 1 was a
wee bit short on the cash side Of my
poorly kept accounts, I'd go to that
old reliable source: I'd hit dad for a
couple of bucks" Well, I got it
easy, so I'd blow" it for the first
thing / saw. / knew that there was
more where that came from and /
also knew that was always sure of
three squares" and good bed.
When it began to look like was /
saw a chance for adventure and a
chance to serve our best uncle
uncle SAM. So, as you will re-
member, ! came early and avoided
the rush. l got in on the first page
II joined the cavalry. And it
wasn't long before l left that good
old home and dear old dad for parts
unknown.
never will forget those first few
days of training. 1t wasn't long be-
fore l wanted to quit and go "over
there" and join an outfit where l
didn't have to drill But it wasn't
long before we became seasoned SOL
diers. We got used to things and
stocks went up.
Then we went to what then
seemed far-off Texas. Our training
was much more rigid and we learned
a little more about real army life
Many things of interest took place
during our stay in Waco, Texas.
We were transferred from cavalry
to artillery and began training on
the old U. S. 3-inch piece, which we
later discarded for the French rs.
We were placed in the thirty-second
division, which since that time has
spread her fame all over France. In
recognition of the wonderful work
of this division, ii has become known
among the French soldiers as the
terrible brigade" 1t fought won
derfully on the Ourcq and Vesle riv-
ers and Company G, 127th infantry
of this division was the first to enter
the city of Fismes (the objective af-
ter we left Chateau Thierry). I'm
der General Mangin, we were used
as the spearhead of one of the
mighty thrusts below the ST. Co
balm forest But getting back to
those days of 1917.
1t was in sunny Texas that we
woke up for the first time with a
foot of snow on our blankets, but
we dug our clothes out of the drift
with a smile. 1t was all in the game,
and nothing compared with what
was ahead of us 1t was III Texas
that we learned for the first time
what eight hours of drill amounted
to. 1t was in the lone star state
where we first walked post on
guard duty, trying to walk" your
post in a military manner" but
spending more time thinking Of
those good old days not so long past.
But it seems that soldier is never
satisfied. From the time he goes to
camp he wants to keep moving, and
when he gets in the front line, the
feeling is even stronger. We wanted
to get on our way over there" We
wanted to get mixed up with that
German iron" that Fritz rained over
the allied lines so plentifully.
Ii wasn't long before our wish was
granted. We left the people of Wa
co. who had been so hospitable to us,
and iourneyed to Camp Merritt, n.
j. We spent about three weeks
there and then embarked on the
largest boat afloat, the y. S. S. Lee
viathan. formerly the Fatherland 1t
was a floating palace, much larger
than ever imagined any boat
could be. Our first duty seemed to
be to explore this big boat, so we