Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 232, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1917 — Aviation Camp Described By Sergeant Louis H. Putts. [ARTICLE]

Aviation Camp Described By Sergeant Louis H. Putts.

Camp Kelly, Texas. Dear Editor: As I am more capable now of writing more about the aviation camp, I will try and write a few lines about it. About sun-up we are all out m the field waiting for our machines. The starter starts us out at certain times in order to prevent any accidents. We all take a circle of about five miles, one after the other, until we get to our starting place, then we volplane down and have our engine examined. After that we go up again and try a few army maneuvers which we will all have to go through on line of battle. This consists mostly of tail spinning, banking, spiral dive and descending in the smallest place possible. This generally completes our day’s work until evening, when we do a little night flying. This has been started only lately and has been not much of a success on account of being too dark. All of us like night flying better than day, for it is more exciting. This generally completes a day’s work unless we have ground school. Each and every one has sixty hours to train here before he gets his diploma. After that he is sent to France or on reserve. At present there are only about 8,000 men here, for they have been shipping them out pretty fast. Five thousand men are being sent here this week for training, which goes to show that this branch of the service has plenty of men. An order is out now not to enlist any more until January Ist. I asked a major the other day how many men were leaving this camp for foreign service and he told me that they were shipping out on an average of nine thousand men every month. The other day I was over to the home of the conscripted army andit is sure a fine place. They are drilling the men pretty hard, but all with whom I talked, seemed to be satisfied. I was there for dinner and they sure set out some feed. I think I will have to close, for I am writing this before the sun goes down and it has gone too fast and is getting dark. We can’t light a candle on account of the mosquitoes. Talk about being thick, you ought to see them. Do you want any? Yours,

SGT. L. H. PUTTS.