JANUARY-FEBRUARY
1919
A.E.F.
January
1. Happy New Year for some but just Wednesday for me. Had a little dance in café, wound up in fight. Guard 3rd relief.
2. Up at 8. Cloudy. Hung around all day. Letter to wife. Rumor has it that we're home 3/15.19.
3. Rain. Had a lot of fun in morning. Bull in the ring. Drove a couple of mules on a gravel detail.
4. Nice day. Inspection of equipment in morning. Hiked to Arges (sp.?) to see a couple of bums get D.S. Co.9sp.?). Guard 3rd relief. Rain all night. Rumor we leave here the 15th of Jan.
5. Nice day. The company went to Pont La Ville for a bath in morning & Arges to memorial service in afternoon. I had my bath in château. Dance at night. Played drum. War dance by Bcd Dave. Colonel back again.
6. Nice day. Hiked to top of hill & had I.D.R & exercise. Competition M.G. in afternoon. My team won all 3 prizes of 5 franc each = 7 bottle (???) Letter from home. Letter to wife & Frances.
7. Nice day. I.D.R in morning. Monkey exercises. Jack Dowling stole candle & the Bolsheviks squad had to recapture it. M.G. in afternoon.
8. Nice day. M.G & I.D.R. in morning. Policed up in afternoon. I saved toothbrush & laces, gloves. Guard 1st relief.
9. Up at 4. Nice day. Steak for breakfast. Slept from 9-11 AM. Washed clothes. Had eggs for supper.
10. Nice day. Took a mile ride to Aizanville to dentist. Had two teeth filled. Letter from Frances. Letter to Frances & Clara. 16 mos. In Army.
11. Nice day. Inspection of equipment. Bought a very pretty apron & handkerchief for wife. Sent h'kchf home in blue envelope. Dance at night till 11:45.
12. Rain. Up at 7:30. Hung around all day. Pancakes for supper made by Reed & Hocher. Guard 3rd relief. Dance all night Reg. Orchestra 12:30.
13. Up at 7. Hung around while Company went on maneuvers. Guard all day. Drew long pants. Had a little Vino party. AH! Jim you were so nice till you drank.
14. Up at 6. left at 7:30 for maneuvers. One helluva hike past Arges. Back for maneuvers 1:30. Hung around all afternoon. I worked in pistols. Ran bobsled(sp.??) over.
15. Up at 6. Rain. Left 7:30 for Pont laVille. Some more damn fool maneuvers in morning. Back at 12:30. Hung around all afternoon. Mock court martial at night.
16. Nice day. Policed up. Hung around all day. Basketball game in afternoon. Guard 3rd relief. Rain at night.
17. Up at 6. Cloudy. Squad went to stable & learned how to clean a mule after 9 months A.K …(??)). Layne turned in, chow line. Army Corps inspection in morning. Letter and (??) from wife. Drew pistol again. Morgan returned to Company under guard. (sp?) has a jug.
18. Up at 5. Snowy. Hiked to Arges for Corp. inspection. Full packs. One big joke. Slept in afternoon. Hung around all day. Letter from home.
19. Nice day. Hung around all day. Orchestra came to town and we had a dance in the evening. Got to bed 12 midnight.
20. Nice day. Up at 5:30. Half platoon went on maneuvers in morning. I go next. Guard 3rd relief. Cold as blazes.
21. Nice day. Cold. Had Morgan and Layne out on road. Hung around rest of time. 2 letters from wife and some going back. Gang went on to maneuvers in morning. Huber mule skinner.
22. Cold. Up at 5. Went on corp maneuvers to Braux. Came back at 3PM. No dinner and damn little stew for supper. Went to show over in Pont La Ville by Co.'s A & D. Very good.
23. Nice day. Cold. M.G. range in morning. Beacon timber (sp.??) was (sp??) in afternoon. Went to Pont La Ville at night to see fight.
24. Nice day. M.G. range in morning. Dentist in afternoon. Had another tooth filled. Gang signed payroll but as usual I'm S.O.L. Guard 1st relief.
25. Guard all day. Cold. Co. paid off but I just look on. Movie show at night, fighting, blood made me feel homesick. 13 mos married.
26. Nice day. Went to 10AM mass. Basketball game in morning. Colored players show at night. Viny flowing like water. Pretty good show. Letter from boss. Snow at night.
27. Nice day. About 3" snow on ground. Cleaned guns in morning. Hung around in afternoon. Wrote to boss. Letter from home & one home and to Frances.
28. Nice day. Turned in holsters and chips. Packed M.G. for shipment. Guard 2nd relief. Show at night. Co. C.B. 25 years old today. Morgan trial today.
29. Nice day. Guard all day. Turned in bolos. Wrote letter to Frances. Band concert in evening. Snowing. Letter to wife and Rose.
30. Nice day. Hiked around in morning. Layne court-martialed,3-3-2. Went to dentist in afternoon. 2 teeth filled. Snow in afternoon.
31. Nice day. Hung around all day. Movies at night. 7 miles of smiles. Seen Stanford in the picture. Cootie inspection.
February
1. Nice day. Inspection in morning. Deloused company. Show at night by co. K. Very good. Guard 1st relief. Gang played blackjack till 2AM.
2. Guard all day. Slept till ten. Nice day. Had an egg omelet for supper. Played Blackjack & wrote letter home. Snowing slightly in evening.
3. Nice day. Cootie inspection. Hung around all day. Had a feed of pork chops & French fried spuds. Played Blackjack in evening.
4. Nice day. Monkey exercises in morning. Basketball in afternoon. Show at night. Co. G, pretty good.
5. Nice day. Field inspection. Cootie inspection in afternoon. Hung around all day. Letter home. Rain in evening.
6. Cloudy. Advance agents sent to Bricon. I.D.R. and monkey exercises in morning. Cootie inspection in afternoon. Guard 1st relief.
7. Snow all morning. Steak & onions for breakfast. Guard all day. French Fries in afternoon. Steak before bedtime.
8. Cold and then some. Bunk inspection in morning. Hung around . Swiped piano and had a hell of a time in chateau. Billed 20 francs for oranges.
9. Cold. Hung around all day. Who stole the rabbits? Signed payroll 10.80. Turned in bed sacks, slept all day.
10. Up at 6. Cold. Rolled everything in packs. Drew iron rations. Went to chateau Villian on divisional mop up party. Billets cold as hell. Hard board bunk to sleep in. Goodbye Irsey (sp?) Les Pont, 4:30 PM. 17 months in army.
11. Brr. Cold and then some. Auto riding all day from 10AM till 8PM. Mopped up Clairvaux, Ville Sous Le Ferte, Juvancourt. Travel with Lerch (sp?) Abbott.
12. Cold. Still touring France in auto truck. Le Ferte, Dinteville, Langtry, Villes En Azois, Amoy sus Ausbe.
13. Cold. Still touring in auto. Dinteville, Lotrecay, Arnoy sus Aube. Extra detail to haul wreckage at Latrecay.
14. Thawing out. Muddy roads for travel. Encore, Dinteville, Ban sus Ausbe, Chateau Villian. Truck stuck in salvage dump.
15. Nice day but muddy. Still touring. Cleaned up nigger camp, some joint too! Montheres.
16. Rain. Still touring. Jenzenville, Mesures and Montheres. Mackin fell in creek. Sunday and worked like hell.
17. Rain and plenty of mud. Still working Montheres. Venison for dinner. Letter home.
18. Rain and mud. Finished Montheres. Nothing special to report.
19. Rain and mud. Cleaned up Montason. Got done early. Left Spaith very sick. Boucous carmels.
20. Nice day. Done another lap to Montheres and closed a couple of barrack doors.
21. Nice day. Were supposed to go to Le Mans today but order was dropped and we were still touring France. Boudreville. Letter home.
22. Rain and cloudy all day. Still touring the area. Cleaned up Dancevoir. Went to nigger show. YMCA.
23. Rain. Still touring area. Worked like hell repairing latrines. One hell of a job. Cleaned up Dancevoir.
24. Rain and mud. Still touring. Cleaned up Lignerolles and Aubespierre.
25. Rain and mud. Still touring. Finished Aubespierre. Expect to move to LeMans tomorrow. 14 months married.
26. Rain. Up at 6. Rolled packs. Left Bricon 9AM arrived Chaumont 10:30. Left Chaumont 6:40PM. Ishathal, Dijon riding all night. Letter home.
27. Hardly any sleep. Still raining. Rode through Bourges, Mehun Ville Franche, St. Agin. Arrived Tours 1:30PM. Stayed in Tours overnight. Letter home.
28. Up at 5:30. rolled packs and left Tours. Traveled through Saint Antoine, Neuville, Chateau Du Loir. Arrived LeMans 11:30AM. Had a pass till 3:30. Missed 5:43 train and caught 8:25. Arrived Sable 9:30. Slept in barn overnight.