The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-03-19

An especially interesting letter from
Sergeant ]. ]. Eckles of Company A,
1o3d regiment, written in France Jan
30, has been received by his mother,
Mrs. John J. Eckles of Cedar street. 1t
reads as follows:
NY dear Mother:-
1t is a long time since / last wrote
to you people, but the lack of writing
material is partly to blame. Added to
this is the fact that | have been eX-
tremely busy.
/ am now in Company A, 103d reg
iment infantry, still a sergeant. The
reason for nv transfer III tell you
when l get home, hut l can say this
much-those responsible assured me
that it was no reflection on me. Sever
al of the officers advised me to so to
the colonel and / have no doubt had
I done so he would have revoked the
order. but in the army | have found 1T
does not pay to buck your Z. .. | was
fifth ranking sergeant and platoon
leader with an absolutely spotless rec
ord In addition ! have never been
sent to school or given a leave of ao-
sence, notwithstanding | have been on
every front the regiment has occupied,
have been twice compllmented IN per-
son bv General Edwards and have done
my duty to the hest of my ability.
See lie guerre,'' as the Frenchmen say.
When | reported TO my new top ser
geant he assigned me to my place then
held out his hand to me to shake. As
/ took his he said: 'sWell ] be =! If
/ YOU don I come from Brattleboro, vt!
| You can lust bet / told him / did. His
name is johnson and he lived on FL.
lot street. not far from Union Hill. q
can shut my eyes and see that place
how. 1t sure was pleasant surprise
| like the fellows here very much and
think things viii work out 0. X.
To Get home and back with YOU al
will mean so much that all these an
novanees will be too small TO notice.
/ went through Hades up in the Boi'
de Armont near Verdun and the mem
, orv viii stay in my head till | die
Men were killed near me time ant
again but my Guardian Angel was sur'
on his Job and | am still here all in
tact though sometimes at night
awake covered with cold perspiratiol
after a vivid horrible dream of thos
terrible days.
After four DAYS aud nights with
out sleep and with only two seant,
meals. we were relieved Up TO tina
) time was too near death to thinl
how / felt hut when / began to wall
back the reaction set in and they sen
+. me TO the hospital K.spent three day
there then the doctor let me go. IL
said | would 90 to a replacement cam
and after 4 day there would reloin m
company He was mainly correct, bu
his error was in the time l would be i
: the replacement camp. / only stage
there Il little over three weeks! | wa
there when the arnistiee was signet
Can YOU imagine it? After | had bee
: all through it al the last final minut
. had to be raked off the center of til
stage and was far. far behind III
8 scenes, when the curtain went dow
I'll bet these officers won't forget US
a hurry. We were at them at q
hours but the best we could get ";
II a promise to send us back TO our
: vision sometime soon. | can tell va
: had l been ten years younger I woul
have wept, l was so mad. ''Ce
e guerre."
/, And now it is over and | am eomir
e lack to YOU ALL The days, the hour
the minutes, aye, the very second
~ drag as we wait and wait and wal
!. Night and day have | dreamed {
a that coming hour, riding to and fro
the trenches at ST. Mihiel, at Verdi
8 always till those last hellish days abo'
: Verdun. Once up there when thr
:. Boche machine gunners, one on L
right front, one on the left front, al
one on the left rear, spotted the a
4 iutant and me as we were crawling
the front to see how things were goin
:. and tried their best to put an expl
. sive bullet in some part of our anaton
l said what l thought was my Ia
At PRAYER and got up and walked to
ne trench 100 yards away. They sang
ul around us but never touched US. | W
st 50 sure of being hit and so darned tir
at didn't run. l just walked but no
of their bullets had my name on it.
~, During those four days, men who h
- been bunkics of mine, all through t
= later part of the war, men who h
: taken chances with me time after tin
: fellows who danced the floor a
=, cheered with me till we were hoarse
- the citadel when we heard Fritzie Il
agreed to Wilson 5 terms, died by [
of dozens.
err They laid in the trenches groani
=. for wafer and stretchers we couldi
th give them, the very air was hea
of with the smell of their blood, a
IRIS through it All we had to "earry on
ut 1t was hopeless and we knew, yet t
er times those men threw themselves
ng the enemy only to be moved down
lr. the guns we could not reach. Worn o
he diseased, half mad with chagrin q
their losses, they did what they W
- told and the Bosche took toll of tn
and laughed at them.
: Never again can | read the m
cnlcnh;l ,nnon, &c THIS chnrnn or II