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Show LETTERS WRITTEN BY SOLDIERS IN SERVICE The following letter was received by Mrs. Lewis Peterson of Fairview from her son Hilden, who is in France with the United States army: France, Feb'. 4, 1919. Dear Mother: I received your letter of January 1st, also the Pyramid, and was surely glad to get them. We now have time to reflect over our experiences of a few months back, so that I will tell you of our movements in our first engagement, "The Meuse, Argonne offensive." After we left our training camp at Chaufourt, France, September 3rd, we hicked until September 2 0, touring tour-ing France on foot. We stayed in the Hess Forest for a few days and then spent from September 22nd or 23rd to the 25th making trails so they could be followed by night without with-out difficulty. The night of September 25th we marched to a road and waited the "zero hour." It was a clear night and intensely cold. We arrived at about 9 p. m. A French gun was firing about every five minutes. At 11 p. m. a few pieces of our artillery started, and at 2 a. m. September 2 6th the entire artillery was doing its best. The noise would have made a thunder storm sound like a toy drum. At 5 a. m. we started for our objective, ob-jective, Montfaucon. Our battalion was "mopping up," that is seeing that no machine gun nests or snipers were left after the first lines had passed over the trenches. About 11 a. m. we came to a clearing and the front line was held up by machine guns and snipers. That afternoon we were called to take the front line, and about 4 or 5 p. m. we had our first casual. One of our "runners" was shot in the wrist. He was about a rod from me, as I was a "runner" also. That night we tried to sleep on a hillside, but it was impossible as we had no overcoats or blanckets and no fires were allowed. The next two days it was a little worse. On September 28th we ad vanced to an orchard where we were held up by machine gun nests and snipers. That is where Lawrence Larsen and Francis Mower were wounded, the former fatally. That night we moved back to the position of the night before and tried to sleep. September 2 9th we advanced 5 or 6 kilometers, and were then ordered to dig in for the night. We had no more than got our holes dug when a "runner" came back from the 3rd Battalion and said that they had taken a hill and that it was important that they hold their position. Their Major had been killed kill-ed and we were the supporting Battalion, Bat-talion, so were ordered to heln them. We filled our canteens and drew our reserve rations, which were a can of corned beef and a package of hardtack. hard-tack. Each man carried from 360 to 420 rounds of ammunition. It rained rain-ed all night and every time we stopped stop-ped the men would fall asleep, as we were tired and had had no sleep for four or five nights. We arrived a little before day-light and "Kept the Hill." We stayed there until 4 p. ni. Sept. 2 9. and then advanced to a small ridge where our Major was wounded. During all this C'me we had suffered many "casuals. We were then orded-ed orded-ed to "dig in" and wait further orders. The night we were relieved we stopped on a road 15 or 20 minutes. While here the Boche threw a shell or two at us which killed and wounded wound-ed twelve men of Company C, who were just in head of us. We then moved back of our Arltl-lerv Arltl-lerv for a few days rest, but our Brigade, Bri-gade, the 361st and 3C2nd Infantry, was ordered into the Argo-'re forest aain. When we came out the second t'me we were sent to Bolgioei "hce we had some very inleroting ex-priences. ex-priences. but I will not take time to tell them now. The only thoughts one has of himself him-self while in battle is "My time lias come." and no one can imagine what it is until he goes through it. Write often, as I look for your letters. let-ters. Your loving son. HILDEN. ' .Merlin Anderson writes about his visit in Honolu. He sends the following fol-lowing letter to the Pyramid: Pearl Harbor, T. H., Feb. 4, 1919. Friend Burke: A line from (lie land of "Sunshine" will. I hope, prove interesting to you as you have spent some time here. When I left Mare Island. Cal. for this little paradise, I recalled the night you told my wife and 1 about some of the interesting things to be seen here, and I decided that the first tiling 1 would see would be the aquarium, which I found even. more interesting than I hoped. But I can not say as much for the Beach at Waikiki, as it is beautiful only in the minds of few American song writers and not at all as pictured in the songs they write. However, I have seen some really beautiful beaches. The one at Punaloa Point where the Marine Mar-ine ride range is located, also the one at Kahula. I have also had the pleasure of hearing some real good native music at the Kawiahau Seminery, and I found it to be a very beautiful place. Not very long ago, about Jan. 10th, the Marines put on a Minstrel Show at the Bijou Theatre in Honolulu, no doubt you remember the place, and I had the pleasure of directing the musical part of it. The band leader and myself also played a cornet and trombone duet which proved very popular. The show as a jvhole was very well received. But such a mixed audience, Hamans, Philippines. Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and some white folks. But I must say they are very interesting and 1 can just about imagine what, a commotion they would make on the streets of Mount Pleasant. Just a word about myself. I am playing trombone in the Marine Band here and from all appearances I wiH be in the service for some time yet. But I am anxio'usly awaiting t lie time to bo released, when I can see old friends again. As ever your friend, PVT. A. M. ANDERSON. |