(Lawrence McCoy to his sister, Bessie)

Camp Pullman
LaRochelle, France

Dear Sister:

Received your letter today. Sure was glad to hear from you. Yes, I received a letter from Bertha, too. Also two from Harley. It only takes 4 days for a letter to go to Harley from here. He is OK. He sure can dope up some letter. I laughed myself crazy over them letters of his.

Yes, I wish I could just have you all along to see the things I've seen for I will never get it all told myself. This is a pretty country to look at now. Everything is green except the trees. Nice green pastures and little streams separate them into little acre and two-acre plots with grass right down to water's edge and sometimes all over the bottom of the stream. Some of the streams are only backwater from the tide on the ocean and when the tide is out you can walk right over it all, but when the tide is in you would find 10 feet of nice blue water there in all those little green ditches. We have a big tower about a hundred feet high or more and I go up in there and look all over the country. Our wildcat fire alarm is up in the top of the tower. She's a screecher.

But the houses over here are all stone with red tile roofs and look worse than old Ned on a pump handle. There isn't any front or back yard in town houses, built right jam up against a little sidewalk about 18 inches wide. You seldom find a house by itself even on the farms. There is always a little bunch of houses where there is any at all. They are also built jam up in the road within arm's reach of you standing in the wagon track. The towns are pretty shabby looking, but inside the houses most of them are certainly fine, pretty, little rooms. Everything is pretty, even the madamoiselle that keeps it looking that way!

But if we Americans would be half as nasty as some of them guys in town, we would be cortmartialed "toots weet". They have a fish station here and if you want to go to town when they are unloading a boat of fish, don't forget your gas mask. Last summer when they were hauling fish skins past here by the wagon load, we carpenters were building a big building by the roadside and every time anybody saw a fish skin wagon coming, he would yell "another gas attack" Ha! Ha! They sure have some awful stinking places in towns here, you tell 'em!

Oh, you little brat, you're trying to kid me, eh? About going to bed when you get ready, ha! Well, you have got it on me in one way. I can go to bed when I get ready, too, just so I don't make it any later than ten P.M. Ha! Or any earlier than 5 PM! Of course, it's only been that way a couple days now. It used to be we wasn't sure whether we would get to bed at all or not. But now we quit work at 5 PM and start at 7:30 AM, except Sat and Sun. We drill on Saturdays and go scot free on Sundays. We quit working Sundays. Haven't worked a Sunday since Christmas. But I don't always go to bed when the bugle blows. If I can get down in the mess hall and get a good place out of sight, they have the electric lights on down there all night and I've wrote several letters down there after the lights were out in the squad rooms. Well, Bessie, must close, so be a good girl and answer soon. Am sending you my picture. As ever your brother,

Private L. McCoy
H Co. Trans. Corps
A.P.O. 735 American E.F.




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