The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-03-13
MORE NEWS FROM
BOYS ACROSS SEA
WRITES OF WORK OF THE
SIGNAL BATTALION
SAILOR WRITES FROM THE GREAT LAKES
A Splendid Poem Written BY One Of
Our Sailor Lads That Breathes
With Patriotism

L. j. Kendall has received a very
newsy letter from Frank Spencer,
formerly one of the operators at the
depot and permits us to give our read
ers the benefit by publication:
Aigney LIE Due, France.-Dear Len:
1t has been a long time since | have
written or received a letter from you.
The war is over and everybody sure
is glad at that, especially the A. E. F.
boys, and | am n Of them. The 7th
OF January was the sixth month for
me in France and we got a gold SER
vice bar to wear on our left sleeve and
our division wears a red ~six-pointed
star on our left shoulder sleeve and
a few more of those ornaments, and
| think Uncle Sammy will send us
back across the Atlantic cea 1t
will be some trip, but we made it un-
der worse conditions the other time.
Well, Len, | will try and tell you
something of my experience since
left New York. We left on the 7th
of July and reached Halifax, n. S., on
the 10th; stayed there one day and
joined a convoy of 10 other ships and
steamed straight for LIE Havre.
France. The night of the 18th of July
about 700 p. m. the German subs
thought they were going to do some.
thing and we also thought so, but one
American battleship thought different.
She opened fire with three 4-inch guns
and shot 16 times, while a British ship
shot 8 times. The Americans bowed
the sub up. Say, we sure was a
tickled bunch of boys after this was
all over-who wouldn't be? Another
attack while going into port at LIE
Havre. A sub fired a torpedo at our
boat and missed us by six feet. Just
enough. We landed on the 22nd Of
July and Skipped t.. thI central, part
of France, the towns name was h
teau william, where we were put to
hard drilling for about five weeks.
Then our division was shipped to the
Alsace sector, this being in the Alps
mountains, where we went into action,
and real action. This was trench war
fare. We were in the trenches about
forty-two days-dates are Aug. 31st
to oct. 18th. Then we were taken
back for a few days rest and moved
to a new sector and it was not trench
warfare. This time we didn't have
nothing to hide behind only to fall
into shell holes, and they were very.
very thick. This sector was called
Argonne and Mouse sector. Dates of
this was Nov. 2 to Nov. 9th, and this
was a steady march, killing and burn
ing the Germans and capturing what
was left, and eating corn willy, and
on the 4th of November, it being my
birthday, which l shall always remem-
Der. About 10 p. M. the Germans
thought it a wise plan to send over
their airplanes and drop bombs on
our heads, and believe me they sure
did. 1t was not the first or last one
| have been in, but it was the worst
one. | can't tell 20 uhow | felt but
guess you can imagine. Just picture
yourself in one of those air raids the
people read about. | would rather
read about them than hear or see one.
Have liver Iverson read this dope.
Say. a keen little stunt IS to see or
hear one of those ~barrages. We had
one put over on Grand Pree for y
hours before the Germans decided to
leave and move back to another town.
This is the town where l spent my
birthday. it being captured by the
Americans three times and forced to
leave and back up and get a new
start, and the third time the Ameri-
cans decided to keep it and they did,
and think this is the reason for the
air raid on the 4th.
The wearing of gas masks are an
other very keen stunt, but belieye me
we would nearly all have been killed
if we didn't have such a thing. God
bless the inventor of those gas masks.
| have still got mine. l also saw a
dandy air battle between three to six
in favor Of the Americans. Saw M
German plane go tumbling head over
heels to the earth. You see the Amer
leans had some of them fixed with
four big guns so the men in the ma
chine could shoot any way. Well
Len, think | will be back to visit with
O some of these days. My brother
and myself pulled through this worlds
war in good condition. He is in the
4th division.
After the llth of November our d.
vision was moved to the Verdun sec
tor. We passed some very interest
ing places. We marched by foot for
about ten days along the old linden
burg line. There is a hill called No
Mans Hill or Hill No. 305. 1t is all