LaRochelle, France

Feb 18 1919

Dear Father:

Will write you a few lines today as I have boocoo time. They put on permanent guard here, so we don't have to have guard every AM. So I don't have much to do of mornings only clean up and write letters. We just got out of camp yesterday for the first time in a week. There were four hunks that belong to this regiment went downtown and got in bad, so the Colonel put a ban on anyone leaving camp for a week. You know it's held as a crime for anyone to get any venereal disease, and it's easy to get here for everybody's "doing it" now, and the only way to be safe is to just do like Snyder told Charlie Mc the time he got locked up, ha! Ha!

Well, I am starting a cigar box full of trinkets home. I think we will leave here very soon. One Lieutenant said the other day we would be here probably three months yet, and they have been preaching that we are going to leave any minute. So I bet 10 dollars to a centime we are going to get out soon. So am sending my stuff home, so be on the watch for all kinds of traps. I'm going to send everything I can get along without for every pound I send now I won't have to lug around in that old pack. They get heavy enough anyway, especially if a fellow has to pitch tents in the rain like I have had to do a time or two. I have a pair of leather leggings here I am going to send also.

Got a letter from Harley a few days ago. He is looking to be sent home soon. Says his division will come by way of LeMans about 50 miles from me. And if he goes to Bordeaux to get on the boat, he will have to come through here. But he may go to St. Nazaire or Brest. If he does, I won't get to see him until I get home.

They transferred me to Co. B the other day. They sure did shake this regiment up some. They had a regular transfer day and busted companies to who laid the chunk! I don't know what Co. I really do belong to anymore. I guess B Co. has my service records and I am still in Co. H barracks with duty under Hq. Co. (Headquarters Company). B Co. is at another camp about a mile or 2 out here at Aytre. I was out there last night to get a pass and the company Commander says to get my duds up there to Co. B, and the Lieut. over the Bugle Corps says to stay where I am. So it's lots easier for me to stay where I am so that's what I'm going to do until the Lieuts get together one way or the other.

These guys get hard boiled every morning when I blow First Call. They had two Buglers in Co. H but they both backed down on the job when it came to doing the bugling. They threatened to throw hobnail shoes and everything else at me if I blew it that morning after I got the job. I guess they thought they could bluff me but I rolled out every A.M. and blowed it, and I haven't received any donation of hobnails yet, ha! And that's not half of it!

Harley never has said whether he got his Xmas box or not. I asked him several times but he always forgets to answer.

Well, the YMCA is about ready to open up to sell dope of all sorts from a stick of gum to a hand towel, so I am going to get in line. We always have to line up and take turns at buying what we want. They open up at 11 o'clock and it is 10:30 now. So must close. I don't think it will be much longer until we will come home if the time passes as fast for you folks as it does for me, it won't seem long if it's the 4th of July! We've been so busy since I landed here that I haven't noticed the time pass, altho there was some pretty long days back in Aug, Sept and Oct.

Well answer soon, as ever your son,