The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-01-17
UNCLE SANS
MAIL POUCH
Headquarters Co. SO4 Pioneer Inf,
American Expeditionary Forces,
December Is, 1918.
Miss Margaret Davis,
Otfumwa, Iowa.

December Is, 1918.
Miss Margaret Davis,
Ottumwa, Iowa.
II Dear Friend: i received letter from
mother just now and she was telling me
that you wanted letter from me Il
send to the Bystander. don t see why
you could not write and ask me to write
such letter, but l suppose you have
iyoyur reasons for everything. Here i:
the letter, but / don t think yoyu have
nerve enough to publish it in any paper
not even the Courier.
i / am writing this on the typewriter
SO that you win not be mistaken in your
Ibclief that / have forgotten how to
spell, also to save you endless moments
OF deciphering the code that i use for
the English language. i am bear
at writing now-l admit it myself
To me this has been one great expert
eEce. / suppose it has to all the men in
| the A. E. f. / never dreamed that |
would come over here and get right up
to the firing line itself and, ON the very
eve of being sent into the trenches, be
saved the trouble of going over the top
| and getting a neat slash or two across
the face, perhaps bullet through the
heart. / had set myself grimly to my
task and had long since made up my
! mind that if 1 had to give my life
/ should make the enemy pay heavily for
| it. Belonging to a regiment that had
never been on a rifle range, consid-
| cred it merely slaughter to go into the
| trenches, but it had been that for the
| best trained regiments the United
States had, so / accepted it as game
to be played to the end without grum-
bling, as good soldiers are supposed to
! do. No matter what we had all planned
to do, we were saved the trouble and
| we are nearly all here to tell about it.
This country is, or has been, beau
tiful country. There are parts Of it
now that are beautiful, for some of the
| best parts of the country have never
been touched by shell-fre. / had the
very great pleasure of seeing the great
Cathedral in Toul that was built in
100. / was in Nancy and saw the
great cathedrals there and in Metz
| was carried away with the many beauti-
| full buildings. Metz is far more beauti-
| full, to me, than any of the other places
/ have been in. There is depot there
about two blocks long that compares
favorably with any of our metropolitan
stations. Much of the architecture in
| Metz is like ours and the parks are
beautiful, being filled with fountains
and statues, most Of which have been
pulled down by the invading French
army. They seemed to have little re-
gard for the beautiful, having only the
desire to tear to pieces anything that
looked like German or brought re
membranes Of German power After
fighting four long years they had right
to feel just that way and 1 cam blame
them for venting their pent-up passion
in any way they felt disposed to turn
it There was great parade in prog
ress the day i was in Metz President
Poincare, General Pershing and all the
civilian and military officials of their
party were present and the French
seemed to be wild with their celebra-
ton. The streets were almost impassi-
BILE, there was a continual blare of auto
horns, whistles and trumpets, and the
military police had a man-sized job
keeping the surging traffic from jam
ming. l never saw anything that re-
minded me more Of old Chicago and I
have been as one in dream ever since.
/ am afraid to pinch myself for fear it
will vanish and I will be robbed of the
very thought of home. spent the night
in Metz and awakened with a noise in
my ears that reminded me very much Of
mornings when / awakened in fiat out
on Jackson boulevard in Chicago. 1t is
r Al T..
with my feet somewhere in the United
States. France is for tourists with
plenty of money to spend and mania
for wasting time. France is for French
men who know no better than to stay
here and drink red wine and eat black
bread, but / long for the old U. s.,
where they serve something in the cafes
besides beer and champagne.
Perhaps you would like to know how
we have Jared over her as regards the
bill of fare? We have no complaint to
make. we have had things that you
folks in the States have not been able
to get for money, marbles or chalk We
have alwaysy thought of you, as you
have thought of us, when we sit down to
eat. You feel sorry for us because you
nave tmngS tnat we 10 not nave 20 eat.
Save your sympathy! That is not it at
all. While there have been times when
we have eaten corned beef and hard
tack until our stomachs revolted, we
have seen so few Of those times that we
can hardly complain. Those times have
faded into the past like the ghosts of
fallen legions-we know them no more.
Can you imagine us eating buttered
toast and jame Well, whether you can
or not, that is what has been true for
some time, owing to our own excess sup
MY of francs of cnurse We lsa orr