Dear Ones All at Home:
There is
very little to write about now, but at least I can again assure you that I am
well. I can only hope you are all over
your colds and enjoying fine health again. I have not recd. any magazines as
yet but the Keystones [local Wisconsin newspaper] are coming along regular now, and are enjoyed as much as
ever. I got letter No. 102 from you the other day. It seems to take just about 1 month for
letters to come this way and six weeks for papers and packages. From the reports we are getting it looks very
much as tho Germany
was up to the “Last Stand” as all her allies seem to have gone to the
wall. In fact, we got so provisions we are
getting “Turks” before Thanksgiving this year so fear it will be all gone by
then and the Allies will have to get along with “Hungary” stomachs.
I sincerely
hope that it is about over, if the Kaiser abdicates
or is shorn of power along with his Junker
govt. But any lesser peace should
be intolerable to the Allies at large and Americans in particular. I surely feel for the boys who must spend the
winter in the trenches, but with Jerry driven out of his snug quarters all
along the line it will be that much harder on him. As for myself, I must admit that for the
present I fear I have accepted a rather bomb-proof job. If the fighting should prove to be about over
I shall be well satisfied, but I have never been reconciled to the fact that I
have never been “over the top”. Have experienced plenty of shell fire, bombs and
some gas, but I did want to go “over”
just once anyway. However, I have tried
to do my duty and believe I am still doing it, for your first duty in a machine
like an army is to do your best in any position your superiors in command feel
you best qualified for, unless you know you are absolutely unfitted for it. I
have noticed so often that it often means the sacrifice of a man’s own wishes
or ambitions.
It has
settled down again to the regulation dull, grey, raw, drizzly French day. Perhaps that is why I feel a little blue,
but it is nothing serious, so in an hour or so I’ll be my own cheerful self
again. I’m sincerely hoping that the
rumored mail arrives today with news that you are OK over there, and with the
usual ray of sunshine the letters from home always contain.
I’ll bet
you can’t guess what the main topic of discussion among us are now when we get
a little time, it’s how the sight of the good old “Statue of Liberty” will look
to us, and how we will appreciate the luxuries of “Home.” We used to call them necessities.
I hope you
are getting my letters regularly now, as I have been writing more frequently
the last two months than I have since I came across, before. Let me know the date and number of each
letter you receive, please. I am sorry I
spoke as tho I needed gloves, as the famine is temporarily over and I have two
pairs wood and one of leather. Use them
when needed, or if not needed, store them as I may send for them later. My helmet and sweater are still serviceable,
too. Am awaiting package sent for,
anxiously but not in extreme need. Love
again and again to all.
Your
son and brother, George Sherwood
