Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1918 — F. McCOLLY NOT CAPTURED; ONLY INJURY TO KNEE [ARTICLE]

F. McCOLLY NOT CAPTURED; ONLY INJURY TO KNEE

American Expeditionary Forces, October 19, 1918. My Dear Mother: — I received your most welcome letter of Sept. 30th. Was sure glad to get it. lam sorry you have not received any of my letters, as I have written every week and sometimes two or three times. I also send you the paper every week. Do you get it? I will continue to write to you every week. I received your first letter to the Garden Service in fifteen days, this one in twenty. Tell George Hohn not to be surprised if he sees me drifting in some time between now and 1828. lam sorry to hear Floyd has been sick. My knee is about the same as ever, but my nose arid ears are • just as good as ever, although I can still hear the roar of the cannon. If you believe all you hear you will not last very long; don’t let any-body-tell you that I have lost any part of my body or that I was captured by the Germans, because I was not even close enough to get captured. I am in the Field Artillery. I don’t go right in the enemy’s front lines, but I would if I could. And as fpr my whole self, I am all together yet, thank God for that. But I have to walk with a cane and I have to wear glasses, too, outside -of that I am all right, so don’t worry if somebody tells you lam not altogether. lam not going to the front any more, so there is no chance for the Germans to get at me. They have got lots of things about me around through that country that never happened to me, and I don’t think will happen in this war. I am feeling as well as my circumstances will permit. I will close for this time and write Floyd a letter, hoping this finds you well. Good-bye. Your affectionate son, FORD E. McCOLLY. October 19, 1918. Dear Brother: — I received your most welcome letter today. Was sure glad you took a notion to write as I like to hear from you just as. well as from the rest ofthe family. I am sorry to hear of you being sick. I hope you are alright again by now. I gather from your letter that the boys around town scrap just as ever. I imagine that the boys you named in your letter would be too much for one of your size, but maybe you have someone to help you when you get in a scrap. You had better go easy because your brother that used to help you out is a long ways from you now. You guessed right, my knee is very sore most of.«the time. lam sorry to say that I can not send you any souvenirs from the battle field, but I will bring some to you when I come home, and I don t think that will be very long to wait, so do not get in a hurry, Fll bet the old town is changed some by now. I ■ sure would like to be ‘back in the old town just now. I would like to see what things look like. How would you like to see me come in some of these days? Are there any nice girls around there that are not marry ed yet; if not, I guess I’ll have to bring a nice French girl home with me. I There sure are some nice ones in this country. Well, I must close for this time, hoping you are well. Good-bye. „ Your brother, •

FORD E. McCOLLY.