Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother No. 2 - January 15, 1918
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Read this to yourself first and don’t read that about Rex to the family; I mean those references to my confidential letter to you concerning him. [January] 15, 1918 Dearest Mother, Now that my business letter to you is finished here is another one. I went in to --- for my permission. Saw May Birkhead and she was laid up with a sore throat and a bad cold with no servant. I did what I could, did some of her newspaper work, acted as janitor and did the marketing. Queer way of spending permission but I enjoyed it. The last day I was there I went to two peachy parties - a very gay tea dance given by an actress May knows. Then Mrs. Kessler another friend of May’s invited some of us to dinner at her apartment and we danced. Her apartment is the one Edward VIII occupied whenever he visited and she rents it with the provision that whenever the present king of England comes to she will have to vacate it for him.
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Needless to say it’s some apartment. It did me a lot of good I can tell you to dance once more and talk to pretty women. I told you I got a letter from Rex. You remember the letter I wrote to you concerning him. Well I wrote to him the same thing then and this letter I received is his answer I told him just what I thought he had to wipe off his slate---some mistakes in judgement he made and some unfortunate stories that his inaction have the appearance of truth. Rex took my letter in the right spirit and didn’t get mad. He has been working hard in the construction dept. of aviation and gets her commission as first lieut. in two weeks. His work will be at the front, not in Paris. In other words he has succeeded and come back in an active service. That was the one thing he absolutely had to do and now he can forget his mistakes and those
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ugly rumors will die a natural death because they are now no longer credible. Rex says those things don’t worry him and he is right. I can’t tell you how glad I am that Rex has come out like that (for I can tell you I was worried about him for a while) I am also mighty glad he is in active service at the front and not in the rear. Rex has passed the exam. for the flying service and will transfer to that when the opportunity presents itself. His address is: Construction Dept. (U.S. Balloon School), U. S. Army Aviation Service, 45 Ave. Montaigne, Paris, France A.E.F. Since my enlistment I have gone through a complete mental revolution. When I enlisted I did it against my inclination and solely from a sense of duty. I thought I couldn’t be happy without a commission and felt rather ashamed of being only
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a private. Now---well I realize that unless I leave the section I will finish the war as a private. I expect to and I don’t want to leave the section at all costs. This was is a very temporary phase in my life---the army is not my career---I have no ambition to rise in it. My ambition is to do my part as a man and if possible win the croix de guerre and live up to the fourragere. I am proud of being a member of the best section in France and I am proud of being a private in active service. When I read articles written by ambulance men who have run home to get a commission lift the war because they had enough I thank God I saw things as I did. I am glad I am free form place hunting and intrigue. I am ashamed of my point of view and attitude of a few months back. I think I am getting esprit de corps and losing the attitude of "I want to fight the war
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but not unless I have a prominent place "I must be an officer etc." I am in a good service and one that bows only to the infantry---our officers treat us as gentlemen---the men in the section are a fine bunch---our living conditions are more pleasant than we could secure in any other service. I am absolutely satisfied and only ask to stay put. I want to finish the war as private in the finest ambulance section in France. There are so many better men than I who are privates in this section---it makes me think things over. There is Rip Flagg, a Spanish War veteran and a peach---he has been through every action in which section 5 has taken part in. He could in all probability lead a section if he wished to---then there is Steve Pell another Spanish War veteran who spends all his time dodging a commission---there is Kitch a 17 year old kid with a year’s service and two croix de guerre already. It's some
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section I can tell you and I am mighty proud to be a private in it. I find it an awful job to keep from going on a wild bat as soon as I hit a town on permission. I haven’t been (until I came over here) much attracted by the idea of getting drunk and living like a beast but it seems a natural reaction from the active life we lead. Your system craves excess of some kind. So far I have managed to keep decent but it’s been some job. War seems to bring out a bunch of manly virtues but it also brings out a bunch of crude vices that civilization ordinarily restrains. In peace we are refined, materialistic, and selfish---in war we are crude savages. It’s a funny world. Of course what I said about Rex is between us except his success. He has come through like a man and all that old stuff should be forgotten. It was 90% appearances anyway. Lots of love, Towner From S.T. Phelan S.S.O. 646 Convois Automobiles B.C.M. Paris A.E.F.
Details
| Title | Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother No. 2 - January 15, 1918 |
| Creator | Phelan, Sidney Towner |
| Source | Phelan, Sidney Towner. Letter to mother No. 2. 15 January 1918. Sidney Towner Phelan Papers, 1899-1960. A1209. Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Sidney Towner Phelan, a St. Louis, Missouri native, wrote this letter to his Mother while serving as a volunteer ambulance driver in France during World War I. In this letter, Phelan wrote about how he spent his time on leave. Phelan explained that he had a change of heart about the army and had developed 'espirit de corps.' |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--France |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | A1209 |
| 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 | January 15, 1918 |
| Language | English |