Charley Sank’s Letter.

    In the following letter to his father, Chas. Sanks, former Sun office employee now with Co. M in France, gives his version of two trips, which he and other members of the company made “over the top.”

    Dear Folks:—Received letters, 11 or 12 and two boxes, the other day. The boxes were both in fine condition and were just as fresh as if they had never taken a six weeks’ trip to get here. The Y. M. C. A. here is out of paper so if you hadn’t sent what you did I would not be writing this letter.

    I have seen some mighty exciting times since I last wrote. I have been in the trenches under fire and “over the top” twice. I have been in German territory for over an hour. That is something that very few American soldiers can boast of.

    When we came back there was not a Boche left. Their trenches and dugouts were just a mass of shell holes. We sure licked the life out of them. Believe me when old Uncle Sam gets a few more men over here and in fighting condition, this war will not last very long, for the Americans can sure go. I think Fritz knows it too, for he would not come out of his dugout and take a chance at a hand-to-hand fight. We didn’t argue the matter with him though, so when we came to one of them we would toss in a couple of bombs and then throw in a fire bomb and it was “Goodbye Fritz.”

    I gave the captain that little flag and he carried it with him when we went over. He showed it to me the next day after we got back to rest billets. We are just a little puffed up over our little fuss and I think we are about the first U. S. company to go over.

    Those people have got a lot of nerve to write that kind of stuff home. We are getting the best that Uncle Sam can get for us. If we were in the States it would be a little better for supplies would be easier to get, but as lots of them have to be purchased in France and as she has an army to feed herself it is a hard job. The captain buys everything he possibly can for us. I’ll admit that once in a great while our mess is rather slim, but if some of the foreign soldiers would eat with us they would think they were at a banquet. You remember I stayed there for a few days one time and could not stand the feed, so I think they have it better here than they did at home.

    My allotment had ought to be coming alright now. The first month when it started was last October and I should have $125 counting February.

    I hope you are all well and the cold weather has let up. I wish you could keep as well as I do. I haven’t been sick all winter.

    I forgot to tell you that during our raid of the German trenches there were several of the Boche planes, four or five of them, soaring around over us and dropping bombs on us. They did not do us much damage and I was wishing they would light and get out of their machines and see if they would show more class than their comrades.

    Well, I had better close for this time. I will write again soon.

With love, your son, 

Charley