LaRochelle, France
9-1-1918

Dear Mother:

Will write you a line or two today as things are kind of dull and nothing going on. I just got back from town. She is a live berg, I said. About like Nashville, ha! It's some fun, too, to get to talking with some Frenchies. They try to talk English and me French, eh! It's a great language where you say "we" for "yes" and "new" for "we". Sometimes when they strike a patch, you know it's plain as English, but that doesn't happen very often. Sometimes when a fellow is straining his ears clear around above his eyes to understand, they start over a rough streak at 40 per clip. All you can do is hold your hat and let her slide till they hit a knot and stops so quick you find yourselves looking into each other's faces like a couple of mad roosters. Frenchie wondering if you understood and you wondering how far it is from Boston to Heaven, or how far you came that heat!

Well, the Captain has issued orders for us to send our serial numbers all home to our next of kin, etc. So that anytime you might have to write to or answer any questions or letters from the War Dept. or Insurance Co., you could send the number with name, rank and organization, and to instruct you to write it this way: Private Lawrence McCoy, 2008549, Co. H. 35th U.S. Engineers, and to write it just that way every time you mention me in any correspondence to government officials. I don't know if the government will want to send you circulars or what.

You needn't let it scare you any as I don't think anybody ever dies in this country from the looks of old men I've seen around here. Some of them look like they were older than Napoleon's grandfather. So you might as well make up your mind that you won't get any $10,000. Ha! Ha!

The boys are all saying the war will be over by Christmas and it certainly looks it. Germany seems to be holding up till winter can come to the rescue. I don't think they have been doing very much fighting in winter but Uncle Sam is in it now and he may not want to quit for cold weather. If he doesn't, I expect things will get too d___ warm for Mr. Fritz, eh?

Well, I must close as it is about time for chow. So write soon and tell me all the news. You can always tell me what you're doing if I can't tell you anything much. If I could, you would probably be more at ease. So will close again. I will be a regular old Culver by the time I get home, ha! As ever your son,