Hampton B. Ball letter to home - March 25, 1919
Transcript
Cadillac, France. March 25, 1919 Dear Home, I have been waiting now for three weeks for a letter from you. I do not know what is wrong because every letter here lately that I have gotten comes straigh across. It rarely ever takes one much more than two weeks. I have just about decided that the mail is being thrown out on that ride of the sea because I very seldom hear from any one and they always wrote before the war was over.
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I am back on my old job now teaching school. Every thing is going along nicely and in addition to arithmetic I am teaching History. I am getting so used to the job that I will be able to teach most any thing when I get back to the states. We are staying in the town waiting for the order to move to Bordeaux to rail. I do not know when that will be but I truly hope it will come soon. I will have to go thru a lot in Bordeaux before I am ready to leave but I do not dread it very much. I have been thru the same thing and worse before. Will get deloused and inspected most every day from head to feet. In fact the inspection of a soldier is about twice as much to get out as it is to get in France. I am afraid some of the fellows will have to stay in the arm for four or five years before they will be able to come up to the specifications
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to get out. Do not stop writing because I am coming home soon. The orders are liable to change any time and it may be some time before I get back. It is now just 10 a.m. and at that time 13 months ago I was standing on a ride track in Des Moines wanting to be pulled out to Camp Dodge. Eleven months ago next Saturday I pulled out of New York for France. If I am over here one more month I will have two gold stripes to wear any way. Dont think
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for a minute, tho, that I care to stay here for that. What I am looking forward to is to be able to roam where ever and when ever I please. I was down in Bordeaux the other day on pass. It is certainly some city. It is scattered over a lot of ground but the buildings are all low. The streets are very narrow and you very seldom see an auto. The shoppers walk mostly in the middle of the street since the ride walks are little more than wide enough for two people to
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pass. There is an awful lot to see in one of these [ms illegible: 1 wd] cities and it is impossible to see every thing in the time of our passes. I saw a great deal tho which I will tell you when I get home. My ride to the city is one good thing to remember. The trains are slower than the [ms illegible: 1 wd] and the towns are so close together that when the train stops in one it has to lock to whistle for the next. While there I met one of the boys who was in my class at [Minnesota]. He is the only one I have seen in France. He is a 1st Lt and had been with 33rd Div in Germany but is now on his way home. He told me he had heard from several of the boys and all said they were getting ready to return to school again next fall. School may not be so hard after all if some of the old bunch come back. There will be every thing in the class from buck privates to Cols. but that will make no difference when we get back to civil life.
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There are "beaucoup" fair damsels in this town and the surrounding country but I am returning to you with an empty hand. None of them for me. I want to say "Bon Soir" to a real American when I leave her Must close now with Love to all Hamp. [censor signature]
Details
Title | Hampton B. Ball letter to home - March 25, 1919 |
Creator | Ball, Hampton B. |
Source | Ball, Hampton B. Letter to home. 25 March 1919. Ball, Hampton B., Papers, 1918-1919. C3935. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
Description | In this March 25, 1919 letter to his home in Troy Missouri, Hampton B. Ball discussed teaching school in France. Ball served in the 82nd Division, 326th Infantry during World War I. |
Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918; United States. Army. Division, 82nd; United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 326th |
Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
Site Accession Number | C3935 |
Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
Date Original | March 25, 1919 |
Language | English |