World War One Letters: Watson

MMS1851 WEW 126-128

World War I in TEI
Bowling Green State University MMS1851 WEW 126-128

TEI Letters

2015 Mathew Sweet Created the initial version of the article
2015-06-01 Mathew Sweet Converted to TEI
2016-09-07 Mathew Sweet Combined pages
Wendell Emmons Watson Somewhere in France October 27th 1918 James Gibson Watson
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Somewhere in France
Oct. 27, 1918
Dear father

It is the afternoon of a fine
October day. I pulled out my little cell
-uloid calendar and see it is the twenty
seventh
. Only two more months till
Christmas and then I begin looking for
a new calendar. This has been a
very quiet day. There was a little enter
-tainment by the band but I hated to
hike over to hear it.
It is just the kind
of a day I would like to take a gun and
go back along the creek for a stray
cottontail. The leaves are falling over
here and our present location looks this
afternoon like Indian summer in the
good old U.S. I can almost see the
corn stocks. So there are no apples.
I can't think of any substitutes for them.
You will be digging the spuds now or
soon. That is one thing in our "eats"
that I didn't suppose would be lacking.
We get some occasionally and I go into
them just like I used to go for chocolate
candy. I would much rather have my
spuds than I would the best steak. We
get some evaporated spuds but that
evaporation stunt seems to take a lot
of the good out of them. I don't suppose
we will get many spuds unevaporated
anyway from the U.S. as they are a
pretty bulky sort of feed. Another
surprise in the eating line is the amount
of fresh meat we get. You would think

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you would see very little of it but
I think we get it very often, that is
considering the job of handling it.
I don't think that the "Deutsh" get anything like it.
What I have seen of them didn't look a
bit starved ^though. Our bread has a half inch
crust but it is fine compared to what
the "Deutsh" call bread. It don't take
much of it to make a pound.
It looks as if we would get deloused
tomorrow and get fresh duds. It will
be an awful help. I am very anxious
to turn the clothes I have over to the Dutchmen
that are working for us now. They can't
be particular you know.
I been kind of disappointed with the
peace talk. The idea of turning everything
over to the military don't suit me.
General Foch may have military ambitions.
I have some hope of things coming
around all right this winter.
Our latest Liberty Loan must have
been a grand success. The "fluenza"influenza
is the worst thing that has happened.
Received card today telling about
Eugene Ash. They will certainly get things
under control. I haven't heard much
of it over here.
I am still in good flesh myself
although lately I have felt as if
my alimentary canal was pretty near
a straight line. The discovery of
tin is largely the trouble I think.
For some reason I have not received
any of the papers yet. Julian has got a

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few clippings from The Blade that
were pretty newsy. If the local news
portion is carved out it would be
possible to send several in an envelopenvelope.
Julian received a couple papers
so I'll be lucky some of these days.
This the morning of the 28th. I had
all kinds of dreams of home last night.
I have written Bill again in spite
of the stationery shortage. If I thought
this shortage would keep up I would
have you send enough stationery in
each letter for an answer.
Well I will have to close the mail
is about ready to go. "Good Bye"

Your son
Wendell E Watson
Mach Gun CoMachine Gun Company 128 Inf.Infantry
USA PO 734
Am. E.F.American Expeditionary Forces
P.S.
I got that letter of Gales referred
to as a long one. Walter's manage-
ment of the army problem was
about as you might expect.

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