Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 253, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1918 — HOMER JORDAN WRITES TO HIS MOTHER [ARTICLE]

HOMER JORDAN WRITES TO HIS MOTHER

The following extracts were taken from a-letter written toy Homer Jordan to his mother, Mrs. S. L. Jordan, of Barkley township: September 25, 1913. Dear Mother: — ... . , . • have had about tw'enty letters from about everybody I know. I am not near (sister) Nettle any more. That place was on the front but it was so quiet the six weeks I was there that it was almost like a training camp. I guess that they always break new troops in that way. When I started writing to (brother) Jim last night the shells were rattling the windows and they chased me into the dugout twice before I decided to postpone the letter until morning. •Nettie, with seven other nurses, was to see me the last day I was at the town feathenbeds. I have moved a dozen times since then, as I was out at furtherest rear station then. Now I am at one of our advanced stations where things get interesting every night ano Sometimes during the day. We are now on territory held by the Germans since the fall of 1914. Among the booty that we captured were brigades and brigrades of .fleas. They hang on with, the usual Boche persistency. There seems to be two types, or rather two branches of the German flea service. There is a large gray quadruped that can easily penetrate to your liver. Then there is a small black fellow of short wheel base that penetrates to the depths of your flea dugout >in your underclothes and is as treacherous as any of the German snipers. If you dress warm they bore the liver out of you, and it you don’t, you freeze, so it is a case of being between the devil and the blue sea. Sometimes I get in a catnap and they start their bombardment so all I can do is to retaliate with a barrage of finger nails. Usually my flesh is very distasteful to a flea, but the food situation is even so bad among the German fleas that they chaw my bacon like a tramp at a porterhouse. I was on guard a few nights ago and I thought I would walk up the hill and see the artillery action. Just as I got up a shell hit across the road from me, so I immediately lost all my curiosity and came back into the valley. ■, We are in German officers’ quarters now and on a pretty little wooded Milside. The pathways ane all marked, “Durchgang fur offizure.” The differentiation between- Gertnaan Officers and men is very marked,, as shown by all these things.. Just imagine barring a certain pathway and forbidding buck privates from even walking upon it. The English are very particular about dividing the different ranks into social classes, but the American and French are freest* from that; the French very much so. But I am getting off of the subject and I am not quite through. When a guy pulls off his shirt and holds it up to the light looking for_fleas the process is termed, “Reading your shirt.” We generally pull them off • every evening and from the mouon you would ..unk we had a new paper every evening. The New York and Chicago papers put out an A. E. F. edition in Paris every day and we get hold of those sometimes. Just now we are doing big things in Macedonia. The wireless poured in all night about our advances. It came in German. The Germans are kept much in the dark as to operations outside of their own sector. So we send our good news broadcast from all our radio stations so at least the operators will get wise. -I just helped finish a can of grape jam one of the guys found some place. After we ate the jam we rinseu oie can with water and drank the water for grape juice Ordinarily we can get beer, wine or champagne, but this is too far advanced for civilians and we ane out of luck until we go back for a rest. I wrote the War Mothers from an eastern. camp but I will send them a line of stuff again one of these days. That will help them from running down their -neighbors’ reputation at their meetings. We could not use any of their sweaters even if they could get them over. When we move we do not take-an ounce more than we have to. Many of the guys accidently on purpose lose their wholt packs and only keep a razor, toofl brush, soap and a few other toilet art cles like that. Then the next place they go they hook more blankets. -I lost my whole pack ,wlth even my razor, etc., and all 1 had was what was on my back. The next day I had a full pack again, all except the razor. (Here the censor must have found Homer’s razor as he cut a big chunk out ,of the letter. The subject discussed seemed to have been upon geography.— Ed.), Be sure and keep me posted of Wa! street affairs and Vaney Arnold, etc. I enjoyed the letter from Titus very much. Our major has also left for the states where I guess he will organize another signal battalion. * * * * I am -writing this with German ink and it takes half an hour for it to dry. I have eaten Genman turnips, cabbage, etc., already. Some of the guys captured field glasses, sugar, pistols, etc., that they have had to turn in but will get back later. I want one of the belt with “Gut nut uns” on it, but I have been out of luck so far by being at that pesky rear station. There are helmets so thick that they are no longer a souvenir. I suppose you have the one Nettle sent you if some mail clerk c. not cop it off. * * • • • Gee, a few of our good guys just dropped In that I have not • seen for months. The old acquaintances that we go through hardships witli are real ones that are ten times as lasting as civilian acquaintances that come and go. Lovingly yours, HOMER G. Co. A, 314 Field Signal Battalion, American Exp. Forces.