James E. Henschel letter to Mr. and Mrs. Leopold H. Henschel - May 5, 1918
Transcript
Private J.E. Henschel - American Mission Prov. Co. "A" MTD. AEF - Convois Autos Par B.C.M. France - Dearest Mother and Dad - May 5/1918 - Haven't heard from home for some time - but the cards prophecy a letter this afternoon. So - although now lieutenant would have me waste a beautiful rainy Sunday morning making interesting entries in less interesting books - and although my ovenfed company is howling for clothes - I am carefully camouflaged in the top of a barn writing my weekly. Fort nightly is better. What do you do when you figure or using onions for dinner - and can't get onions?
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Things do not always work out quite as planned - but they usually work out. The box of chocolate arrived on the 26th of April - along with a volume of service poems (kindness of Marian-) Quite a coincidence. That being a birthday - I planned a cake for the company - but the oven refused to "cake" worth a continental. For the past few days I have done little else but laze gloriously. The work has been more or less routine - a case of waiting for Fritz and orders. We wait for the orders - the orders for Fritz. I am getting so that I have less use for him every day. I purchased $150.00 worth of the third liberty loan - on the installment plan of course. At $15 per - these should be delivered
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to day after December 31st. Unless I [ms illegible: 1 wd] of [ms illegible: 1 wd] dreary before la guerre est finis - it might come in handy to have when I go home. Also - it helps out friend government. At a hundred and fifty a year I should have quite a bank roll on my return. Lt. Travis, Coburn and I received community letter from "H" Clay. He is in active service at last - and it certainly is active. He has seen fifty of his close friends killed - and quite optimistically placed his chanced of being alive and kicking at a sixth of a chance for two weeks. That sort of thing makes us in the "safety corps" think a bit. Still - thinking is about all we can do. Coburn
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applied for a transfer to Field artillery - and the application came back disapproved. If I thought there was a chance of application going through - my papers would go in a minute. It's all right to say that we are of more use here - our training and work is very valuable - and all that - but none the less - I never imagined that I would go to war in the Q.M.C. There are a great many who would like to do just this sort of thing. The other morning I sank as low as it is possible on a military scale - counted the [ms illegible: 1 wd] I served at breakfast. The best thing I have done in weeks was to give a French kiddie a well [md illegible: 1 wd] fritter. Will write again soon - Ned.
Details
| Title | James E. Henschel letter to Mr. and Mrs. Leopold H. Henschel - May 5, 1918 |
| Creator | Henschel, James E. |
| Source | Henschel, James E. Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Leopold H. Henschel. 5 May 1918. James Edward Henschel Collection, 1917-1919. 1996.51. The National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri. |
| Description | In this letter dated May 5, 1918, Henschel wrote his parents about the purchase of a liberty loan and of his friend Coburn's transfer to the field artillery being denied. |
| Subject LCSH | American Field Service; Missouri. National Guard; United States. Army. Motor Transport Corps |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | 1996.51 |
| 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 | May 5, 1918 |
| Language | English |