“Union County Boy
Writes While On Board Ship,” from the Monroe Journal, Sept. 20, 1918
In a letter to his
mother, Private E.C. Meigs tells a little of his experience while crossing the
Atlantic. This will be interesting to the general public because so few of the
soldiers see fit to tell of their transport experiences. We take pleasure in
printing this letter as follows:
Dear Mother:
I do not have any
idea when this letter will reach you but I am going to write hoping it will get
there in a month or two at least.
We have been out on
the water now for several days and I am enjoying the trip, in some respects
fine. Of course we are very much crowded and there are some disagreeable things
to contend with. However, I have about learned to lay aside all personal
feelings in this war. That is what we must do if we hope to win. In every man
thought of his own comfort and tried in no way to help his fellow soldiers, we
would soon have a mob instead of an army. The majority of our fellows are
beginning to realize this now. They are beginning to realize that they are all
co-workers, striving for the same purpose and end, and we are getting along
fine.
We are having a
beautiful period of weather in which to make this trip. It has been fair and
scarcely any wind, except the first evening out. We had a little gale then, and
you ought to have seen the boys. You know the majority of them had never been
far out from land before, and they got awfully sick. You could see them hanging
over the rail in all kinds of positions and staggering around on deck declaring
they were not sick, but you could see by their faces that they were not exactly
well. I got a little “puny” myself but it soon passed and now I am feeling like
I could give the Huns a nasty little scrap.
In some ways the
trip across is rather monotonous, but we have a great many things to amuse us.
The Y.M.C.A. has a room on board the ship with all kinds of good literature,
games, paper and pencils which we are at liberty to use if we wish. Besides
anyone with a love for the beauties of nature can amuse himself by watching the
ever-changing lights and shadows of the sea. I make it a point to see the sun
just as it appears above the water, casting a long ray of light directly toward
you. It looks like a shining pathway to another land.
There are a lot of
amusing incidents that happen each day. Yesterday the ships commenced blowing
their whistles in a mysterious way and at the same time we were called into a
formation on deck. A great many of us took it to be a warning that submarines
were near, and you could see a lot of faces growing pale, But when it was
learned that it was only a little talk among ships by the dot and ash language,
the blood flowed back into place, and the feeling of security came back.
We have had no adventure
with a “sub” yet, and I don’t think we will have the privilege of sinking one
but you can never tell. One may pop up out on the sea at any moment, but I
think we are pretty well protected and can hold our own with anything the “Hun”
has yet devised.
Well, mother, it
may be a long time before I see you again or it may be only a short while. We
cannot tell. Be that as it may. You know you realize that we are fighting for a
noble cause and will be proud to spare me for a while for that cause. We must win
this war. There is no other way in which to make the world a fit place to live.
I look upon it as one of the greatest privileges of my life, and besides it
will be a liberal education for me or for any young man. No matter how well
educated he is, he will know things when he gets thru the war that he could
never have known in civil life. I know there are thousands of mothers and
sisters with bruised and bleeding hearts, but thank God they are still loyal
and willing to suffer more if need be for the cause. I have a lot more to tell
you but—well will say lack of time and paper prevents.
I will write you
again when we reach Berlin. We expect to stack arms on the streets of that city
before a great while and “police up” the streets. Seriously, I will write again
at the first opportunity.
Your loving son,
Private E.C. Meigs
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