A Soldier's Letter Home---WW I

[ddurbin]

MOLINE ADVANCE  July 11, 1918
Letter from Charlie Durbin
Camp Dix, New Jersey,   June 30, 1918
Dear Ruth:
Didn't receive my letter today but got Howard Courant and Moline Advance at noon and have been giving them a pretty thorough reading.

From Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia, 105 miles, is the prettiest farming country I ever saw.  I won't say it is any better land than lots I have seen but it sure has an abundance of well improved and well cared for farms.  There is more money spent for improvements on some of these farms than there is in a whole county in Arkansas, towns included.

Went to Trenton yesterday.  Had intended to go to New York City but as today was the 30th everybody had to be back for "muster" this morning, so we could only get passes good until 5:30 this morning.  About everybody who had gone to Philadelphia last Saturday went to Trenton yesterday and vice versa.  Trenton shows a good many signs of being a pretty old town.  There is a cemetery right up in the business section in which a number of men killed at the battle of Trenton in 1776 are buried.  We went to the top of the Trenton Battle Monument, 160 feet high, from which we could get a fine view of the city and surrounding country.  We intended to go down the Delaware via steamboat to Philadelphia and back to camp from there but not knowing anything about schedules on boat line got down there in time to see boat pull out and as we could not get another till after dark went back to town and gave it up.  In does not hurt a soldier to get left any place just so he can make it back to camp by the time his pass runs out.  Nearly everything in this country is built of brick.  I don't suppose there are as many wooden buildings in Trenton as there are in Moline and it is 150,000 population.

We stood "muster" this morning and then after breakfast went down and groomed our horses.  Only have 25 in all yet so we haven't even got a horse for each recruit yet.  We don't have much grooming to do ourselves but its going to be quite a job to teach some of these fellows much horsemanship.  I even had to show one fellow this morning what and where a horse's mane was.

There are rumors around here that the 87th Division is going to Italy but I rather doubt it and yet I see by this morning's paper that U. S. forces have landed in Italy.  Guess it don't make much difference as I suppose we can get into a fight either in France or Italy.

Went to "Beast of Berlin" last night, a pretty good photo play alright, also heard a good speech by one of the writers of the Saturday Evening Post who had traveled thru Russia and nearly all the allied nations and if you can put any faith in what he said it will soon be  "finis" for the Kaiser and his armies.  Although the Post is a Republican magazine I have never before heard anyone laud President Wilson like he did, so perhaps we are really doing more than we realize.

Well I suppose the boys at home will feel like they have earned a holiday on the 4th but I doubt if they take it.  I really believe the farmer boys who work like Elmer, Emera, Roy, Frank and Jack are doing more to win the war than some of us are but they are doing theirs at home and I tell you they don't realize what home means to a fellow until they have been in the army awhile.

Must close for tonight with lots of love to all.
Charlie Durbin