The Caddo Herald
June 10, 1919
Letter from France
Mark Davis’ folks received the following letter from somewhere in France, dated November 4, 1918:
Dear Folks, I am in receipt of yours dated Oct. 4th. I am glad to hear from you any time. I hope this letter finds all in good health as it leaves me the same.
It is still raining and has been for about thirty days. France is everything but Sunny France, and the mud is at least four inches deep. It was thirteen months yesterday since I got into this place.
You ask how we celebrate the holidays over here. I will celebrate Christmas the same as we celebrated the Fourth of July. Some of the S.O.S. men get to celebrate but none of the line boys do. I think I shall celebrate the day by getting rid of the “cooties”. I think I must have at least a thousand on me- three of the grown ones feel as though they weigh a pound. They bite like a honey bee.
I am staying in a dug-out seven feet deep. We are on the lines, but it is a real quiet sector, just behind a real important town in Germany. Metz is just staring us boys in the face and if it is taken you may know we have gone over the top again.
You ask me if I can tell any battles I have been in. I was in the big battle of Chateau Thierry- it lasted about thirty days or longer. Then I was in the last of the Verdun drive. I am satisfied with what I have already seen and I also think the 110th Regiment has done its bit in France. It has made a name for its self that will follow it thro’ the world. Anyway I am not ashamed to say that I fought in the 110th. It was sure a fine Regiment when we first came over here, both officers and men.
I am not saying this just because I am in it. Anyone in France will say the same. The Division is called the “Fighting Fools”.
You ask if I had got stuck on a French girl yet. I have, but it does me no good as I cannot talk to them. I am too dull to learn their lingo. I had a French girl in Paris who could talk English while I was in the hospital, but of course I had to get well and leave. As a rule they are good looking, but they don’t dress like the girls do at home: they always dress in dark clothes. But I’m strong for them anyway. They drink wine when they eat their meals just like we do coffee or milk. It is not often Frenchmen get drunk but they all drink. They are strong for the Americans, but they have a right to be.
The buildings in France are all of stones and where there have been fighting the buildings are scattered over the ground. As a rule when a town is captured it looks more like a brick yard than a town. The tops of the houses are covered with some kind of shingles that are made of cement. It is not often that a house catches fire; I mean that a house burns down.
Some parts of France remind me of Oklahoma and other parts remind me of the East.
Well, I have told you all I know, so I will close.
Corp. Mark T. Davis
Co. H. 110th Inf.
The Caddo Herald
June 10, 1919
Construction to be Hastened is Request
Oklahoma City- That all construction contemplated by counties, cities and the State shall be rushed as rapidly as possible in order to furnish early jobs for returning soldiers is the request sent out by the War Department, the Council of National Defense and the Oklahoma State Council of Defense. The following joint recommendation was sent by the State Council to all boards of county commissioners, mayors of all cities, and presidents of all State institutions in Oklahoma:
Re-employment of discharged soldiers, sailors, and war workers released from war industries is one of the most important tasks now before the country. We strongly urge that in sections where surplus of labor exists, all public improvements be advanced in order to absorb labor. We ask that you use all influence with State, county and municipal authorizes to this end. Preliminary steps should be taken immediately in order that necessary authority may be secured in time for operations upon opening of construction season.
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