Dear Folks:
Well "Le Guerre Finis" the war is over and when you get this just take it from me that I am thankful to the divine creator for being alive. Our division arrived at one of the main fronts just at the hour that hostilities ceased. We heard the last one of the 150,000 guns and heavy shells that were thrown our way by the Germans. They put up an intense bombardment on this sector from the afternoon of the 10th to eleven o'clock of the eleventh.
I have always claimed that I was born with a horse shoe around my neck. I mean by all this that the 88th Division is very fortunate. In a few more hours we would have been at the very front instead of thirty kilometers from the lines. Well it is all over now and we can but wait until we get home.
You must have absolutely no worry now. I am in excellent health and trained down to a fine point. There's not a thing wrong with me physically that I know about. Think I weigh about a hundred eighty pounds or perhaps a trifle less. I have lost a lot of fat and have taken up my belt over six inches and find that I am hard as nails. One simply has to be in good physical trim to stand this hard marching with heavy packs. I am thankful that I have been so fortunate so far.
You speak so much of the influenza there. There is some of it here but very little of it in our Regiment. We have none in the company. There was plenty of it at one time but we are not bothered with it now.
Had your letter dated Oct. 12th and mailed from Des Moines and also one from Deva. Surely was I pleased to receive them. I write you at least three times a week and some weeks oftener. I hope you are getting them all but the condition of the mail is such that I doubt if you are. I feel sure that I am not getting all yours although I may at that.
Don't have the slightest idea when I will get home. It would be but a guess so I am not even going to guess. I can only hope that we are at least along the middle. I think the ones who have been here the longest should be the first ones home. We have seen many interesting things and I think I can remember a whole lot of them and my one request is that you don't believe all that I will tell you because we are apt to do a whole lot of stringing.
We are getting decently billetted and have plenty of covers. Must close and go to bed.
Grant
