Capt. Ladd Writes From the Trenches in France, Requests Mail for His Troops, 1918

“Letter About Home Boys In Battle” from Capt. Rolla V. Ladd, as published in the French Broad Hustler, Hendersonville, Thursday, Oct. 24, 1918.

France, October 3, 1918

French Broad Hustler, Hendersonville, N.C.

Dear Folks,

I am taking time to write you a few lines to let you know that all our Henderson county boys in my organization are alive and doing well. We get plenty to eat, although some times we don’t know where it is coming from. The battery has been through some very exciting experiences lately and all have heard the music of the shell fire, the bursting H.E.’s, and machine guns. No one was hurt.

We have been moving so rapidly our mail has been unable to catch up with us and we have not been paid for the past two months.

The thing which we need the most Over Here is MAIL, so I request each of you to please write to some of us.

We are glad to say we have some German machine guns which we were able to pick up lately on the front and we are going to give the Boche air birds some of their own lead if they will only fly low enough for us to use the gun on them. Not many days ago some of the German artillery decided to drop a few shells over us to see how things were going and to let us know that they were still in the woods just beyond the hills from us. They did so and the bursting shells were close enough to some of the boys had they been sanding in place of being flat on the ground, that they would have “Gone West,” however, no one was hurt and it was a great experience for them. The front we are on now is quite dangerous for some people and some units, however, all the boys of old Henderson are withstanding the hardships as they should and each and each and every one wants to be in at the “Kill” as we say when we have a fox to chase.

Some of us have received some mail last night, the first in over six weeks. Those that did not should have and I want to say again that we need the letters and each Sister, Mother, Father, Brother and Sweetheart should write to the boy “Over Here” as often as letters from home will take away the pangs of hunger, the hardships of trench life; the very thoughts of war will go away when we get the news from home, the long looked for letter from Dad or the Girl. So write that letter TODAY to the boy over here.

From the news we are able to get here on the front we will soon finish the war and then for the hills of W.N.C., and Home. You know that Xmas will soon be here now and we all will expect a box from you with the good things to eat. But send the letters.

With best wishes from all the boys and regards to all at home, from

                                --Capt. Rolla V. Ladd, 7^th Anti-Aircraft Bat. C.A.C.

P.S.—All letters to us should be addressed as follows:

                Rank and Name
                7^th Anti-Aircraft Bat. C.A.C.
                C-o Hq. Anti-Aircraft Service
                1^st Army, Am. E.F., France