LaRochelle, France

Sept 22, 1918

Hello Mother:

How are you these fine large days? I am just fine. I just answered Harley's letter. He was telling me about that girl of his. He certainly is stuck on her, believe me. He says "I'm not crazy about army life but somebody has to be in it and it might as well be me as anybody." So I guess he's not very badly worried and, say, he sure has got the fight in him if anybody has. If he ever gets to the front before it is all over, he'll put a bunch of them Fritzies to sleep in a hurry. They had to yell when the Americans landed on them at St. Mihiel. They wanted peace right away. My opinion is they will want peace worse than that by spring.

I haven't heard a word from you since you heard I had come across but I am enjoying life the same as I hope you are. I expect there's lots of times when you are worrying about me that I am sitting around a piano or jazz band, having a good time or watching a vaudeville dance or a boxing bout. There's always someone along to keep such things going, and he is the YMCA man. Every place you go, every camp or detachment, has its YMCA man, and he generally is a pretty good sort of fellow, always cheerful and ready to talk to you on any subject you have in mind. But before you get very far, he will have you arguing Scripture. You won't find very many soldiers but what likes the YMCA man and I'm sure they will build a reputation for the Y that will down in history.

Say, talk about rain! I'll be blamed if this country hadn't got Noah's flood rain beat a mile. I was talking to a Frenchman the other day and he said there was one year it rained 261 days in a year. I told him if it kept this up it would get about 370 this year, that I'd been here 3 weeks and it had rained 22 days, ha!

Well, I've been jazzing around till I'm about hungry enough to eat a sow and 10 pigs. It's about chow time so I must begin to slow down or I'll get to going so fast I can't stop in time for supper. They have posted a new order now about the address so here it is: Co. H, 35th Engineers, American E.F. That's shortening it a little but be sure to write it just that way or if you put it: Private Lawrence McCoy, Co. H, 35th Engrs, American E.F., LaRochelle, France, I will get it. I don't know why they changed it. Orders are orders, you know. When you write to me, put your name and address in the upper left hand corner, but all I'm allowed to put on outside of an envelope is my name, rank and U.S.Army. All the mail we send out is censored but the mail we get is not opened till we open it.

Well, write soon and tell me the news. As ever your son,

Pvt. Lawrence McCoy