Letter to Mother & Dad - 17 March 1918

My dear Mother & Dad:

Well today is March 17th - St. Patrick's Day and I'm not homeward bound as yet!

I received your dear letter the other day and I thank you all for your good wishes for my birthday. My only regret is that I was unable to celebrate it at home with all of you.

Concerning my long overdue 10 day leave, I talked with Lt. Fiebig last Wednesday and he informed me that I will surely be leaving in a few days. I suppose I should be reassured, but somehow I've heard that same old phrase "in a few days" so many times now that I'm wondering just what it means.

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I started this letter to you in Camp today. It is evening now and I'm finishing it in town. A group of us left camp in a hurry today to attend the big Rodeo at the Remount Depot. It was given by the boys in our Division, many of whom were surprisingly adept at roping, riding, and bronco busting. And mingled among our soldier boys were about a dozen real "cow-punchers" from Texas and Oklahoma who put on a real professional performance for our amusement. It was comical indeed, to watch some of the wild horses they rode, trying to throw their riders. One chap - a soldier of our Division lassoed a stubborn mule and he was dragged around the entire field. But he was game and stuck with it and finally managed to saddle the critter and got a big hand from the crowd. And there was a greased pig race that was quite comical to watch. The Lord knows that a pig is difficult to catch, but when he's properly greased he presents a real problem. And so it was in this instance. But with 5 chaps each with a "do or die" spirit, it was inevitable that the pig had no chance in the long run - and so after a lot of comical falls and near misses, one chap finally got him by the leg and hing on for dear life and was proclaimed winner. There were thousands present for the remount station is a huge place and beside our soldiers there were many civilians present to watch the fun.

I meant to tell you of the inspection we underwent last Wednesday for the benefit of General Bell, Commander of the 33rd Division. Also present was Gen. Todd - our Brigade Commander. It was held on the artillery drill field and due to the fact that our regiment has only half the required number of 3 inch field pieces, the First Battalion used the guns in the morning while our Second Battalion did the dis-mounted work. In the afternoon the order was reversed - we used the field pieces while the First Battalion did the dis-mounted work. The whole thing went off like clock-work and was declared a huge success. We established a position and went into action after galloping around the field executing different maneuvers. Our signal section established telephonic communication between the Battery Commander, the Battalion station and the guns. The General was watching pretty closely and after it was all over, the General praised our regiment in particular and was quoted as saying he was "glad to see one regiment that is apparently ready to go across." He said all we needed was to be completely equipped and we'd be ready for real action. You can well imagine how this pleased old Col. Foreman, for this high praise from the Division Commander was the greatest tribute he could receive.

Must close now and I've got to be back in Camp before 10 PM - and here's hoping that I'll soon be able to join the family circle for about 6 or 7 precious days.

Love,

Geo