Letter from Harris Heard to Virginia- July 02, 1918
Transcript
July 2 1918 Dear Virginia: I received yours of recent date and was glad to hear from you. I appreciate a great deal your thoughtfulness in sending me the invitation to the graduation exercises at Soldan. I want to thank you kindly for it I am always glad to hear what is going on in St. Louis. I am doing guard duty at present. I am on guard an average of 8 hrs aday. One night, I have a shift from 1030 until 230 [m.s. illegible: 1 wd] the next night from 230 until 630 The third night, I get a full night sleep; And then I am on guard several hours during the day, I stay, and sleep at the guard house. There are about forty of us here. The different French cities are about
Transcript
alike in so far as buildings go. The accomadations here surprised me. I did not expect to find them so good. We get plenty to eat. At St. Nazaire, we used the same barracks that the first Canadians used, when they first arrived. Most of those boys are gone and under the ground now. A good many wounded and gassed soldiers have gone back to the States. I have seen a good many on their way. During the recent heavy drive, I could see the sky made red at night, from star shells barrage etc. 200 miles distant. Everything is quiet now, on the Western front. Thousands upon thousands of women in France are in mourning. When I was in Rennes during last week I saw a great many French soldiers The vast majority seem to be middle aged, the younger boys being at the front or dead.
Transcript
[page 2] Away from an Army contanement the French girls simply adore the American boys, but you cannot understand much that they say. I suppose that can mention the P.G. which means prisoner of Germany. There are a good many around here, during various kinds of work, building roads, unloading railroad cars, etc etc. They wear green or white suits, with a little green cap. They are extremely treacherous at the front. one of their favorite stunts is to throw up their hands and yell
Transcript
Some of the boys took some horses to Nantes and St. Nazaire and came back with some Artillery horses. I also helped load a lot of horses for the front just before coming on guard. This is an Artillery, and Q.M. headquarters. There are also engineers, and every other branch of service, except Infantry men here. All day long and sometimes at night, the heavy and light Artillery are practicing. The heavy howitzers. Make an awful noise. One soon becomes accustomed to it. Hoping to hear from you soon. Your friend, Private Harris Heard Field Remount Squadron 302 American E.F. A.P.O. 711 Via N. York
Details
| Title | Letter from Harris Heard to Virginia- July 02, 1918 |
| Creator | Heard, Harris |
| Source | Heard, Harris. Letter to Virginia. 02 July 1918. World War I Collection. A1771. Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Letter from Private Harris Heard of the Field Remount Squadron to Virginia of St. Louis, Missouri. He informed her of his work as a guard of the German prisoners of war. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Prisoners; World War, 1914-1918--Chemical Warfare; Gas masks; Howitzers; World War, 1914-1918--War work--Y.M.C.A.; World War, 1914-1918--War work--Red Cross; Guard duty |
| Subject Local | World War I; WWI |
| Site Accession Number | A1771 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| 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. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | July 2, 1918 |
| Language | English |