Niederbeiber Gernany
Dearest Dad & Mother:-
Although he is a long ways from home, you may be mighty sure that your boy in Germany is thinking a heap of you today and wishes you all a very, very, Merry Christmas and a mighty jolly happy New Year. Both the Christmas cards that you, Dad & Mother, sent Clarence [Greer] and I reached us the other day. We both thank you very much. Our Xmas packages have not reached us yet but I think they will be here before long. The last letter was written Nov. 16. I am so sorry that you have so long and often had to go without word from me. I know that even now you are waiting to hear and I pray that that letter may travel like lightning. I did my very best through it all and from now on I will be able to send letters regularly. And I sure will.
Christmas 1918 in Germany will be one that I will never forget. I don’t deny that I have felt rather homesick. It would be strange if a fellow did not. But it has been a mighty pleasant day. It snowed last night and the ground & trees were beautifully white when we got up this morning. We had a rip roaring Christmas dinner for the army. Roast Beef, mashed potatoes & gravy and even Apple pie. Wonderful for a bunch of fellows that have existed on corn beef and hard tack through the war. The YMCA gave us a box of candy with this inscription “A Merry Xmas from the folks at home through the YMCA.” Mighty nice. We have a good YMCA here now & a fine man. First time we have had anything like that for a long time and it will mean a lot this winter. As I say this has been a mighty pleasant day.
It is now after supper. I have spent a lot of time writting letters. I am going to write to Sis tonight. Her letter with the gum in it came last night and I sure appreciated it. Also want to tell you that the papers are coming. Nov 11 & 12th are the latest. By the way. Some fellows get little stuff like gum & Hershies Almond bar chocolate wrapped up in those rolls of papers once in a while.
I wrote you a letter telling you about our history but for fear you might not get it I will repeat it. Anyhow I wrote some stuff that might not get by [the censors] and might cause the letter to be cut up so as to cut out some of the other. We left Camp Merritt on Sunday morning July 21 and hiked 5 miles to the Hudson river where we boarded a ferry boat and took a little trip on the river to 23rd st landing N. York where we boarded to U.S. Transport, Harrisburg. We sailed at 9am the next morning. The first night out our convoy of 14 transports 2 battle ship cruisers & several destroyers was attack[ed] by two submarines. We were called on deck by general alarm at 3 am. It was a bright moonlight night and guns were firing all around. One of the subs got away and the other was sunk. Two days off the coast of Ireland we were met by the British destroyers. The next day they sunk a submarine with their depth bombs. All of our ships landed safely in Liverpool on Sunday morning Aug 4. We went direct by train through the heart of England to Romsey. Two days later we hiked five miles to South Hampton where we boarded a vessel and crossed the channel. Landed the next morning in La Harve, France and were shipped “a la box car” to Bordeaux to a replacement camp. After a few days there we were sent to the front as replacements for the second regular army division. Clarence [Greer] and I joined this Company at Pompey (near Nancy) on Aug 21. Sept 1 we went to the front where we had our initial work under shell fire in the St Mihiel drive which was a rip roaring success. In October we were in the big drive on the Champagne front. A few days after the drive started we had our kitchen stationed in Mt St Remy which before the drive started was a big Amunition base depot for the Germans. Late in October we moved to the Argon sector and our drive there ended up on the Meuse river front on the 11th month, 11th day & 11th hour. For the next week we worked day & night hauling supplies & clothes. Our division along with the 1st & 42nd (the rainbow division) was picked for the third army (the army of occupation). On Nov 17 we left Buzancy (near Beaumont) and started on the long trip through Belgium, Luxemburg and into Germany. The people of Belgium sure treated us fine. We crossed the Rhine on the afternoon of Dec 14 and are now nicely located in Niederbeiber, a small town near Coblenz. We are connected by trolley with Coblenz and all the good towns. We had it rough through the war but are setting on the world with good clean dry places to sleep, a bath house in town, and good eats. Paradise for a soldier over here. I guess we will be here all winter. Hope to be home in the spring. It will be a great day when we get home. Clarence will come for a visit after he has been home for a while. We will go to Aunt Jessie’s together and you will go with us. Won’t that be fun.
Young Harry at Aunt Jessie’s © Harry Faris 2010
Gee that fresh bread and fried mush you were eating for breakfast sure sounded good. Man, wait until I get home. I’ll show you how to eat Mothers cooking. I have an appetite like a horse and sure am feeling fine.
Be sure and write often. I will too now that I can.
Oceans of love,
Harry
(Send this to Sis & I won’t write her all about where we have been)
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