JULY 20, 1918
From a letter to his father that depicts a most grueling six days in the trenches of Belgium.
“Never before have I imagined what war really was. Where I am now there is never a minute
of day or night that the big guns are not roaring on all sides and shells singing overhead or shrapnel
bursting all around or maybe dropping within 50 to 100 ft away and jarring the ground like an
earthquake and then when they explode the bits humming and singing around one’s head like swarms
of bees. The noise that the shells make is the most indescribable, and at the very first, as terrifying a sound
I ever heard. You can hear ‘way off in the distance a faint hum which grows louder and louder as the shell
approaches and then a sudden rushing sound followed by a huge “Bang” and the earth suddenly seeming to rise
in a tremendous shower fifty or more feet high. But the most wonderful thing of all is how quickly one becomes
used to it. After two days of it, I could tell by the hum of the shell whether it was going to hit in front of me or
going overhead or whether it was shrapnel or High Explosive. The boys in my company have become so used to
it that the only action they take when a bit of shell flies within a few feet of their heads is to look around and say, “D---, that one was close.”
It’s a great life, Father, but one is not exactly surrounded by luxuries. I have averaged about two hours sleep per twenty-four for the past week
and haven’t had a bath for fourteen days, nor have I had any of my clothes off except my boots. Am living in a little hole in the ground with
nothing to sleep on except terra firma and one blanket to wrap up in, and eating bully beef and hard tack …”
I T has been a year since Edward’s enlistment. The bloody trench fighting on the Western Front would continue four more
months. Of the 4.7 million men and women serving in the U.S. forces, 2.8 million of them served overseas. Total casual-ties,
civilian and military, is estimated at 37 million people.
AUGUST 5, 1918
From a location again described as “somewhere” he wrote to his mother letting her know a
little of the danger he constantly faced on the front lines.
“Speaking of thrills —
there is one gun position
which the Captain and
I have to visit every
night, the path to which
is constantly being swept
by M. G. fire. Every time
we go down this path, we
have to lay down three or
four times to avoid being
hit. The Boche seeks to
prevent the bringing up
of rations, water, etc. by
firing on the roads and
paths with artillery and
M. G.’s. but of course he
doesn’t succeed. Naturally,
our troops suffer frequent
losses…”
Soldiers of Gen. John Pershing’s America’s Expeditionary
Force on the frontlines in France.
In the second installment in our December 2019 issue we will pick up with the horrific trench warfare in France and Belgium, the joy of
mail call, manning the forward guns on the frontlines, the month-long push to take the “impregnable” Hindenburg Line, and liberating
war-weary French and Belgian towns and villages held for four years by the Germans, then the Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice.
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WBM november 2019
WIKIMEDIA
AUGUST 1, 1918
From a letter location “somewhere,”
addressed to his mother.
“We have just completed fifteen days
on the front and were very fortunate
in losing only one man killed; one
wounded; and two who lost their
minds from shell shock. It’s a great life,
and a hard life, and yet where life is
held so lightly, it seems particularly
dear to us all.”
AUGUST 4, 1918
From a letter to his Father.
“Oh yes! here is a bit of news --- I told
you about having been recommended
for a first lieutenancy. Well, I have
taken my exams and am now awaiting
my commission. Today I was designated
as second in command of our Company,
succeeding Lt. Turner who was killed.”
Lt. Edward M. Hardin’s
“dog tag.”