James Robert Davis letter to Mother and Others - March 9, 1919
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Rec. [March] 30 Montierchaume France March 9, 1919 Dear Mother &Others Just a note tonight as there isnt much news and besides Ispent most of the afternoon sleeping and you know that makes one feel rather dull. Letter 14 finally found me. also amys letter [William] card and a note from Mary. guess that all glad you got the wheel and that Bill likes it. Mary sent a picture of herself and the Baby. It doesnt seem possible that She and Bill have kids two year old. I enjoyed Bill Hail letter very much and so did
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most of my friends. guess I’ll send it on to Prigmore altho Iam a little afraid it would just follow him back to the states. General [John] Pershing came down and gave us the once over last week guess he found conditions fairly satisfactory. any way he didnt tarry long. Iwas in Chateauroux Saturday and tryed on my new uniform. I think I am going to have a pretty nice suit. The boys are holding church tonight from all reports they
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are having some regular meeting. They were rather disappointed because we wouldnt let them pull of a dipping today in a mud hole in the camp. But we were a little afraid to on account of weather conditions and besides we had to keep them in to hunt for some stuff they had stolen. We found the goods alright. They really arent very bad tho at stealing stuff. Dont look for (stopped to answer a question and forgot what I’d started to write but thats alright remember I slept most of the afternoon and you know how
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that leaves you. Yesterday 3 of us had a Dodge car and a driver and we came out from town the long way. saw some really pretty country - The French have good roads or did have before the war, and in this section they never use [ms illegible: 1 wd] so the whole country reminds you of a big well kept lawn. Very pretty indeed if it would stop raining a few minutes one would really enjoy going over the country. Sorry to hear that Claud is running a temperature at that tho there isnt any great
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danger of anything happening to him soon - he isnt one of the types that is going to cash in if he takes any kind of care of himself. What is Wayne going to do this summer. Bill I suppose, will go to [Kansas] and Ill be over here most of the time. I really see no chance for getting a way soon, yet, one can’t tell any thing about it. Most of the boys are pretty homesick fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be - Iam not
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given to homesick spell altho to night Iwould have liked better than most any thing to have had an old fashion sunday supper at home - I think we would have had oyster soup - in fact Isure thats what we would have had. Guess I’ll circulate around a little and see if Ican get my brain shaken up a little so Ican think of more to say, yes Igot the Xmas box and wrote about a four page letter thanking you for it especially was I delighted to find it filled with stuffed dates
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We arent in a Division we came over as a regiment and are not attached to any Division Dont attempt to follow out this army stuff. as you cant do it We came over as and are yet a Pioneer Infantry regiment. Since the war stopped we have been doing labor of all kinds and yet we are not a labor Battalion now just whats the differents is, is hard to say - yet there is one between a Pioneer outfit that does any kind of labor yet is as apt to be put in a fight or not and a labor Battalion. Now I never gotten any papers - but if you have any magazine around the place put on a one cent stamp and shoot them in this post
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office some body will be glad to get them - when up on the front we spent lots of time going thru old dug outs hunting and hoping some one had left a paper or book or magazine behind. Lots of them were water soaked and torne but we’d dry them out and hope that all the good stories werent continued next month. guess I’ll turn in some class to this Baby blue paper - but it is almost impossible to get any thing overhere that isn’t more or less colored - Did my books ever reach home If you tell me something Elizabeth wants Ill be glad to get it for her, but my brain refuses to tell me anything suitable to get Hope you and all well - lovingly Jim Lt JR Davis M S 816 Pioneer Inf- A.E.F.
Details
| Title | James Robert Davis letter to Mother and Others - March 9, 1919 |
| Creator | Davis, James Robert |
| Source | Davis, James Robert. Letter to Mother and Others. 09 March 1919. James Robert Davis Collection, 1918-1919. 1994.41. National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri. |
| Description | James Robert Davis wrote this letter to his mother and other relatives from Montierchaume, France on March 9, 1919. Davis mentioned a camp inspection made by General John J. Pershing, a car ride he took out in the countryside, and various other topics of military life. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Military life--United States; World War, 1914-1918--Occupied territories; Automobiles; World War, 1914-1918--Religious aspects; United States. Army--Inspection.; Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948. ; United States. Army--Unif |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I; 816th Pioneer Infantry; Care packages |
| Site Accession Number | 1994.41 |
| Contributing Institution | National World War I Museum and Memorial |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the National World War I Museum and Memorial: (816) 888-8100. |
| 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 9, 1919 |
| Language | English |