Sam Horton Writes of 'Dawn of Peace' From Brest, France, 1918

From the Watauga Democrat, Boone, N.C., Dec. 7, 1918

Sam F. Horton Writes of the Great Victory

Mr. D.F. Horton of Vilas was in town Monday and handed The Democrat the following letter from his son Sam at Brest, France, the night after the armistice was signed, which is the first we have seen from a Wataugan since hostilities ceased. It follows, in part:

To-day has been the most wonderful day of my life, the day that has seen the downfall of Germany and the success of Right over Might. To write to you of my impressions and feelings would be impossible because I am too full of happiness to express it.

I must tell you my experiences of the day, perhaps the most historic of all time. To begin with when I went to the door this morning, I saw the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen and someone standing by my side said, ‘See the dawn of Peace,’ and the dawn of peace it proved to be. Imagine an expanse of water, filled with a hundred ships with lights ablaze, stars overhead, the sun just beneath the horizon and throwing its light above and around those ships, and you can understand that morning scene. It was great. Then about 8 o’clock news came that Germany had signed the armistice and hostilities would cease at 11 o’clock. You know (some words obscured) went wild abandonment.
I went to Brest on liberty and to describe what I saw there would be impossible, but as long as I live it shall never be forgotten. To see the happy faces of French mothers and to hear that oft repeated phrase “Le guerre est finis” was enough to make a smile anywhere. Still I saw other faces not so happy, so many mourning veils and sometimes tears streaming down the faces of aged people as they watched the happy throng and thought about that lonely grave out in Flanders. The bands played, both French and American, everybody paraded streets arm in arm, and the bells, guns and aeroplanes overhead kept up a terrible noise. English, Portugese, Italian, French and American soldiers and sailors marched through the town singing national songs, beating drums and celebrating in the biggest way. Of course everybody had a girl at least part of the time and oh, the time we had. I finally broke away from the crowd and have just got in. Now, I am thinking of home and of how soon I’ll be ready to leave for the good old U.S.A. I have put in my application for flight ensign U.S.N.R.C. and my papers are now on their way to Washington with recommendations and everything necessary, so whether anything will come of it now that the war is over I do not know. Any way, I’ll see loved ones before so very long.

Yesterday afternoon while in town I met a friend of W.F.C. He has been on a ship that has made this port since March but this is the first time I’ve seen him. Couldn’t be with him long, because the crowd was terrible.