Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1917 — LETTER FROM VERN DAVISSON [ARTICLE]

LETTER FROM VERN DAVISSON

Further Details of Experiences at the Battle Front in France. Harvey Davisson is in receipt of another letter from his son Vern, who is engaged in ambulance work On the battlefields of France. Because of the strict censorship rules he is unable to tell many details of their daily life and many of his most interesting experiences, but can write enough to give us some idea of the awfulness of w*hat is common sights to them. We publish the letter in full, which is as follows: At the Front, October 8, 1917. My dear Father and Mother: Am getting along fine, feeling good and enjoy the work, although we are having terrible rainy and dark, cold weather now. Yesterday While coming from the front out “Poste de Secours” with wounded it came up a terrible storm, we .could only see a few feet ahead of the car, “very dark” and the road filled with long strings of heavy trucks loaded with ammunition, etc., continual stream of soldiers going to the trenches and the horse wagon outfits who can never hear us “honk’’ the horn, so we had to drive slow. Cannot use lights. Everytime we hit a bump the blesses (wounded) yelled. It made rather a trying trip. We pulled up at the hospital finally and they took the wounded in and began working on them l ; one of them lost one arm and both legs and part of his head; but this is only one of the many cases. Two weeks ago they had a gas attack near us while we were unloading at the hospital; we saw section No. 70 hauling them in so we stayed a while and looked them over. Another terrible sight. The soldiers dread the gas more than the guns. At this writing things are tolerably quiet, except artillery duels. We call ambulance work “hauling back the fodder” because the soldiers we like they had went through a shredder? I heard today that our section will go back on six weeks’ leave from the front, but don’t know for sure.

I received your letter containing the souvenir of Rensselaer boys who were called to the colors, also got the Climax tobacco. It was a great treat. I wish you would send a carton of Bull Durham or Duke’s Mixture smoking tobacco. All we can get is the tobacco the French government issues to us and it is so strong and musty we cannot smoke it. We get stuff from the States in about twenty-four days after it is mailed there. I hope this letter finds all well and feeling fine. Tell Sam’s people he is O. K. and getting fat. There is lots of news , here but it is war news and we cannot mention it. Your loving son, VERN C. DAVISSON, S. S. Y. 72, Convois Aptos, per B. C. M., Paris, France. P. s.—We are going to eat Xmas dinner in Berlin.