Owen "Glen" Tudor letter to his mother - April 28, 1918
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am returning some stamps which I want you to use because I do not need them. Somewhere in France April 28, 1918 [censor signature] Dear Mother, I recieved your two letters, the one to Camp Merritt & the one to Camp Doniphan day before yesterday. The one to Camp Merritt came over on the same boat as I did the fellows say but the one to Doniphan was a few hours later. We were only a few days in Camp Merritt & the funny thing about it was that we did not even get a chance to go to New York though we were one twelve miles away. The same thing happened at our first camp in France. We did not tarry long but after a rest of a few days took "match" box cars "a la French" and came here. This is a French artillery camp taken over by the Americans, but the French still do a little work here. I certainly appreciated your letters
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[page 2] and you must not worry about answering soon or saying much when you do write just tell me how things are going along and how your health is and the health of all the folks & kids. I was tickled to death to get a picture of my namesake but was very sorry to hear that he is having such a tough time at the very beginning of life. I guess he is beginning to think this is a pretty tough old world already. As always I can see that you are overworking but the time will come when you will have things easier I am sure. This war can't last for ever & when I get back I am sure that we can make some arrangement to get a girl to help or do something to make it easier for you & Rachel. How is Bee getting along with her family now? Am glad to hear that Ed has become a traveling man for I believe he would be more satisfied to have a change now & then to hump along in one place all the time. I am glad that Raymond is catching
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[page 3] on to the kodak. It is complicated but if he will study it & keep track of the weather conditions when a picture is taken & then note the result obtained he will be able to regulate the shutter & the time of exposure so as to procure better results each time. It is not a bad idea to number the films by use of the autograph & keep a chart showing weather - time - shutter - film #1 - etc. I studied Bee camera until I had very few failures. I had the most trouble with counter reflection on the lens, but got pretty good results in all. I am glad the gloves arrived OK. They are took good to keep now that the govt. has furnished us leather gauntlets and I want them for dress wear next winter - or perhaps the winter after. I will get two pays in one when I do get it & will send the $20 00 that I got by telegraph which will bring me up to near where I was before I guess the telegraph charge for sending it was pretty high but I could not have done with out it hardly. The rookie picture is
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[page 4] quite natural & I am going to show it to the boys. I am glad you liked "a little bit of heaven" and I am going to frame it in my room when I get back. Good to hear Emanuel has remembered me. I also wish that the "sunshine" society had sent the "smilage" book for I could use it here in France. However, I can manage to get along without it. I got the little French book that Rachel sent & am much obliged to her. I certainly can use it. I thought I had thanked her for it. We are not very apt to see Paris for a while yet at least. I understand that no American soldier can get leave to go to Paris if he ranks under a Major. This is unless he is one of a party commanded by a major. We will see Paris before we come back tho I am sure. You will hear from me once a week or oftener. I was pretty sure that Bud Richmond was into it by now. I got over the grippe all right. I did write a little while on board ship but I wrote on both sides
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[page 5] of the paper & could not send it. I wrote another tho practically the same while in the rest camp. I certainly had a good time on the boat for I was on the staff of the "Hatchet" & we used to have great time. having parties et. in the ships office which adjoined the printing shop. Of course the eats were all furnished by the head printer who had a good stand in with the comissary officer. You see this gave me a great many things to do to pass the time. I could go up on deck to the Printing shop & set time awhile or I could look at the ocean & the other ships - or I could go down to my bunk & read or talk with the other boys. I will never forget that trip as long as I live. It was fun just to wander around & discover things on the ships. We had the largest ship in the convoy. You can imagine it was a great sight, too, to see the convoy come up when we got in the danger zone. We had a large number of distroyers around us during the latter
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[page 6] part of the journey. We were expecting them to show up one morning & & everyone was on deck scanning the sea. Sure enough pretty soon we saw a speck on the horizon & a little column of smoke & pretty soon a distroyer move in sight. Then pretty soon one showed up on the other side & the first thing we knew they were all around us like a flock of mosquitoes. They are the funniest looking little things you ever saw - painted in queer designs so you couldn't tell which way they were going.. They could also throw up a smoke screen in hide in it being entirely invisible & looking like part of the sky live from a little way of. I am getting along fine & dandy. Have not started to school yet. It is rumored that we leave here day after tomorrow. It is a fact that we recieved orders to be ready to move for we "might move." I believe we will leave here before long. Well, I will write again soon. Your loving son Glen.
Details
Title | Owen "Glen" Tudor letter to his mother - April 28, 1918 |
Creator | Tudor, Owen Glen |
Source | Tudor, Owen Glen. Letter to his mother. 28 April 1918. Westover, John G., Collection, 1910-1946. C3733. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
Description | In this April 28, 1918, letter to his mother, Owen "Glen" Tudor discussed photography, described his sea journey to France, and inquired after his family members. Tudor, a Maplewood, Missouri, native, served in the 128th Field Artillery in the 35th Division during World War I. |
Subject LCSH | United States. Army. Division, 35th; World War, 1914-1918--Transportation |
Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
Site Accession Number | C3733 |
Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
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 | April 28, 1918 |
Language | English |