Harry S. Truman letter to Bess Wallace - October 28, 1917
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[One Hundred Twenty-Ninth Field Artillery letterhead]Lawton, [Oklahoma October] 28, 1917 Dear Bess: No letter today or yesterday. Uncle Sam's mail is surely on the blink I guess. I wrote you Friday night at midnight and failed to connect last night because I went to bed at 9 o'clock. I had to take reveille this morning because I am Battery Officer today therefore I had to go to bed early. Yesterday was sure a fine day and I put it in too. We have inspection every Saturday morning by Colonel Klemm and I have to get the canteen in apple pie order. We had things in fine shape inside but he kicked like a bay steer because the Puritan distributor hadn't returned for his empty bottles. I have a Jew in charge of the canteen by the name of Jacobson and he is a cracker-jack. Also the barbershop is run by a Jew, Morris Stearns by name. He formerly owned the Ridge Barber Shop, does yet but the guy he left in charge is stealing the income because Morris says he gets nothing from it. What I started to say was that the Col inspected the
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[One Hundred Twenty-Ninth Field Artillery letterhead] barber and everything was shipshape. Morris had it all scoured up and shining like a new pin. The colonel couldn't see anything outside to kick about so he made Morris open his cupboard doors and then he said "Just as I expected, you simply stuffed the dirt out of sight." The rest of the bunch sure rawhided Morris. I have been unloading a car of soda pop today. About 670 cases of it. We closed up at noon to get it all put away. Mrs. Klemm came down yesterday afternoon. She sent for me this morning to ask me to urge you to take part in her association on the 129th Aux. I told her I'd sure do it and I am. She's very anxious to have all the Independence bunch take a hand in it. I told her I was sure they would if you did. You will won't you? She seemed very anxious about it. It seemed to me that she'd been weeping about something when I was at the Col's tent this morning. I don't know whether
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[One Hundred Twenty-Ninth Field Artillery letterhead]she had or not but I thought she had. Maybe the Col had told her we were going to France right away. When I started to the stables (we now have them) this evening to oversee the feeding it was too hot to wear a coat. When I came back it was as cold as the very dickens and dust so thick you couldn't see ten feet away. It is blowing a gale now right from Medicine Hat. I expect it will be about zero in the morning because I have a carload of pop ready to freeze up and bust. It so dusty in my tent that I came to the tailor shop to write this. The tailor the barber, Jacobson, the regimental mess sergeant and my bookkeeper are playing penny ante and having a hilarious time. I've got to go to the stable again at 10 o'clock and as it's nearly that now I'll have to stop. Hope to get two letters tomorrow. Send that picture as soon as you get it. Yours ever Harry
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ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINTH FIELD ARTILLERY [stamp] LAWTON OKLA. OCT 29 1-30P 19 Miss Bess Wallace 219 Delaware St Independence [Missouri]
Details
| Title | Harry S. Truman letter to Bess Wallace - October 28, 1917 |
| Creator | Truman, Harry S. |
| Source | Truman, Harry S. Letter to Bess Wallace. 28 October 1917. Papers of Harry S. Truman Pertaining to Family, Business and Personal Affairs; Correspondence from Harry S. Truman to Bess Wallace, 1910-1919. HST-FBP_4-56_01. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, I |
| Description | Letter from Harry S. Truman to his future wife, Bess Wallace, about life at camp in Lawton, Oklahoma. Captain Harry S. Truman commanded Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment from July 11, 1918 through the end of the war on November 11, 1918. During his military service Truman frequently wrote to Bess informing her of his experiences. |
| Subject LCSH | Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972; United States. Army. Field Artillery Battalion, 129th; Klemm, Karl; World War, 1914-1918--Military life--United States; United States. Army--Inspection. |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | HST-FBP_4-56_01 |
| Contributing Institution | Harry S. Truman Library and Museum |
| Rights | Documents in this file are in the public domain. |
| Date Original | October 28, 1917 |
| Language | English |