AN AMERICAN WW1 SOLDIER WRITES HOME

 [This is the final installment in the effort to transcribe Clyde's military career diary augmented with his letters to his Aunt Nell - Miss Nellie B. Sergent, 503 West 121st St., New York, NY. There are 68 installments - please review from the beginning to get a full appreciation of this young man's service.] Letter to Aunt Nell - Le Mans, F. 10 April 1919 Dear Aunt Nell - Well - here's April 10th and the big rumor is that we will entrain the 13th for St. Nazaire sure! Everything points to a very early movement, anyhow, as the final inspection of the troops is being carried out today and there's no reason why we can't shove off touts de suite! Now - the only question is - "What is the shipping situation at St. Nazaire?" "How long will we have to wait there for our turn for a ship to transport us?" It would seem that we can expect to stay there anywheres from 3 hours to a week or 10 days. It is more than likely that we'll either land at Newpo...

  More diary entries - March 1, 1919, Sat. Beautiful day! Up for inspection. Major back from school. Inspected section at 9. Very good! Wrote letters in a.m. Worked in p.m. on my new billeting records. Bn. dance tonight. Didn't go! Staid here to play Black Jack. Bed at 10:00. March 2, 1919, Sun., Fair day. Slept quite late - breakfast at 8:30 - wrote a few letters - read - played cards - a bit o' foot ball. Sent in some reports, etc., mailed home Joan of Arc souvenir cards. Wrote letters & talked in evening. Bed quite early. March 3, 1919, Mon. Rain. Lectures and review inside in a.m. Base ball game in p.m. (14 - 8) Wrote letters. Old lady drove the boys out of my room today. Wrote Anna. March 4, 1919, Tues. - Rain. No drill today. Went to Goussaincourt to fix up some claims in a.m. Got some orders out - rec'd pay - 745 fr. - wrote letters in evening. Bed early. March 5, 1919, Wed. Up for reveille - Rain. Drill, field work, lecture - aero - photo study in a.m. Loafed in...

  Another diary entry - February 8, 1919, Sat. Maneuvers called off - coldest day yet. Took my outfit for 1 hour road march this a.m. to Sauvigny to be snapped [photographed?] in fighting togs in afternoon. Good supper - up to Sorenson's to write in evening. Crouse to dance at 3rd Bn. No mail. About 4 or 5" of snow on ground. Have a pair of long OD breeches - very comfortable. Letter to Aunt Nell - France 8 Feb. 1919 Dear Aunt Nell - Tho I wrote you only yesterday - I've a long evening, a warm fire, beaucoup candles burning, an easy chair, a fresh box of cigars and a quiet room - so - I'm going to use up this abominable paper that my orderly got for me by telling you something of life in a French village - based on my last year's experiences as a doughboy and my present ones as an officer. So, if you haven't time to read it now - you can lay it away - as there's nothing worth while to follow! Ha!Ha! The Battalions (4 companies, 1/3 of a Regiment) hike separ...

 More diary entries - January 20, 1919, Mon. Busy getting drill fields. Lectures & drill in a.m. Athletics in p.m. Feel bum. Fine day. January 21, 1919, Tues. Feel fine. Beautiful day! Drill & lectures in a.m. Games in p.m. Colder today. Colonel Geo. Rickerts up. Wrote a few letters in p.m. No mail. Rummy in evening. January 22, 1919, Wed. Fair. [ some of entry erased or too light to decipher] Very cold. Bn. went for Reg't'l. (?) in a.m. Athletics in p.m. ....... AWOL men back. January 23, 1919, Thur. Fair - very cold - a bit of snow in the air. Drill, good lecture & mapping. Ball game in p.m. Rec'd 3 letters. Having some trouble over one of my men who went to Paris, arrested. Guess I'm in wrong with Reg't'l Adj. Damned old crab! January 24, 1919, Frid. - Fair. Cold. Drill, hike, sketching & lectures in a.m. Planning for big football game Sunday. Wrote a few letters - bed early. News of going home in Feb. today. January 25, 1919, Sat. Cold. Cloud...

 Letter to Aunt Nell - Burey - la - Cote 12 January 1919 Dear Aunt Nell - Well - here's our first real winter morning - cold out and this cussed Frog stove I have not exactly under but (?) my chair is worse than no stove at all. It's simply an aggravation! A week ago I left on advance billeting party - coming through past Commercy to the "Abbey of Orangevale" an old, historic monastery some 300 years old. I slept there that night and billeted the place next day for my Battalion - leaving (?) Bosqu, Colombey & Toul for Pagny-la-Blanche-Mont, our new Regt'l H.Q. from there, with the towns of Burey - la - Cote and (?) assigned to my Bn. I proceeded to allot the billets to the men, officers & animals. You see I have about 1100 men, 30 officers and 90 animals to take care of. Well, I picked a private house for my Major & Adjt.; another for the 2 medical officers; one for the transport officer; one for the Rifle Instructor & 1 for the Gas officer. Now - ...

 Letter to Aunt Nell - Langres Dec. 21, 1918 Dear Aunt Nell - Well, I'm leaving here tomorrow for Luxemburg, via Paris, Nancy & Metz [Metz is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers] - and - ye Gods! maybe I'm not glad to get out of this damnable school. It has been the most unsatisfactory course I have, as yet attended - due to our new point of view of these "bomb-proof instructors - who we had to listen to before the armistice but now realize what they represent - and our attitude toward them - as that of men who have fought in the lines toward these who exert certain influences to keep away from the dangers of battle - is very marked! So, we're glad to get away from this detestable crowd and get back to our outfits where we have fellow officers who are MEN! It has been raining pretty much ever day during the past 4 weeks - is now getting damnably cold and a lot of us are anxious to get organized in our outfits ag...

 Letter to Aunt Nell - Dec. 10, 1918 Langres - Haute Marne Francais Dear Aunt Nell - I'll begin by saying I write this under personal protest - but - well, I'm a sort of a benevolent old gentleman - so - well - here goes! Frankly - I haven't much to tell - but, I know how bored you'll be so I can't see the harm of doing the job completely. Needless to say I'm well! If you could see me eat - I'm feeding at the school officer's mess, at 200 odd francs a month - you'd wonder how I ever got away with so many pan - cakes, etc. Oh! we're feeding like kings. And - I sleep extremely comfortable - our hours are from 8 - 11:30 and 1 - 4:30 so we get lots of good exercise - about 2/3 of it all is out - of - doors, so - it's some healthy life. Then, needless to (?), my suddenly fattened income allows a certain change in dress. I now wear high 16" top English trench boots (moosehide leather), whipcord uniform, the old Sam Browne, Burberry Trench coat...