Letter 121 ~ December 26, 1918

I write my mother Hattie to tell her how I spent Christmas Day.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, KS

Nitro, West Virginia
December 26, 1918

Dear Folks,

Well, Christmas is over and it is safe to say I never spent a less enjoyable one in my life. I went on guard at 10 o’clock A.M. and got off this forenoon. I found out that it doesn’t always rain here – sometimes it snows. Yesterday afternoon it started snowing and snowed off and on all night with the wind blowing from the N.W. It got pretty cold on the two night watches. We had to go way off up a ravine and guard what they call the “proving grounds.” It is where they make tests with cannon using the different ammunition. There was a lot of shells and powder stored there. They brought our dinner and supper out to us but we didn’t get breakfast until we got off this forenoon. The dinner wasn’t so bad considering the way we had to get it, but it wasn’t like sitting down to a Xmas dinner at home.

Now I won’t have to guard again for eight days. If I had enough money to pay my way there and back, I could get a 7-day pass and go to see [my sister] Gussie [in Washington D.C.] but I will have to wait until I go off guard sometime after payday.

They are treating us pretty good here and if everyone will behave himself they will continue to do so. But if someone gets smart, he will queer the whole business and our liberties will be taken away. Anyone who is off duty can get a pass to Charleston any afternoon. The train leaves out 2:30 and gets back at about 11:45. We can come in at anytime of night here and no one cares but at [Camp] Funston we had to be in at 10.

Christmas morning some Y.W. ladies gave each one of us a tiny box of chocolates and a package of cigarettes. Some of us went to a Xmas doing at the schoolhouse Xmas eve and we each got a box of crackerjack.

The “Y” made us a present of a Victrola and some records and they said they would lend us about 100 books and a piano.

I haven’t gotten any mail from you in quite a while and I am beginning to wonder how everything is getting along. What did you folks do for Christmas?

We haven’t drilled since we have been here, I expect for the simple reason that there isn’t a piece of ground large enough that isn’t nearly upside down. We have a little of the manual of arms in the forenoon and usually some little job like making cinder walks, etc., and then aside from policing up, that is all we do. But even if it is easy, it will get awful tiresome because the weather is so bad. We stay inside nearly all the time.

I believe I said that about 50,000 people worked here. Well, that was a mistake. When the plant was running, 25,000 was the most ever employed, but now there aren’t more than about 5 or 6 thousand. The plant, when everything is finished, is liable to be taken over by some corporation for manufacturing purposes and then, of course, they will not need any guards here any longer.

I don’t know whether I told you or not, but before we left [Camp] Funston, we were issued another suit of clothes. Some of them were better than the others, but most of them were the same. I got a pretty fair pair of pants to go with the blouse I drew first.

Let me know how everything is doing. With lots of love, -- Ward

• The "Proving Grounds" where black powder was tested by firing it with a cannon was located in Rock Branch Hollow north of Nitro. The road that winds up this hollow is now named "Limeberger Creek."
  

Letter 120 ~ December 24, 1918

I write Minnie on Christmas Eve about holiday festivities in Nitro, West Virginia where I am stationed to perform guard duties at the government's explosives and munitions plant.

Addressed to Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, KS

Nitro, West Virginia
12/24/1918

Dear Little Girl,

I wonder if you are going home [to Manhattan, Kansas] tonight for Xmas. I hope you do. It won’t seem like Xmas if you don’t. If the weather there is like it is here, you will stay all night in the school house for fear of getting stuck in the mud when you go Parkerson’s. Such rainy weather is sort of depressing but we are becoming accustomed to it now.

We are getting nicely settled now & are taking up the routine of guard duty. I haven’t been on [duty] yet so I am pretty sure of getting [it] on Xmas day. There are enough men in the two camps to make eight guards, so one man needs to go on only once in eight days.

The Major [Major Walter C. Gullion] offered all those who wanted them 7 day passes to go home for Xmas, but it is so near the end of the month that everyone is busted & besides hardly anyone could get home & back in seven days. If I wasn’t so near busted, I would go to Washington [D.C.] but I will have to wait until after payday. When I go off duty the first time after payday, I am going to ask for a week’s pass & I think I can get it. We can get passes to Charleston most any afternoon. The train leaves at 2:00 and gets back at about 11:45. We can get in at any time of night here & no one cares. We would be out of luck if we tried that at [Camp] Funston.

Minnie, I have been planning all along to have my picture taken & send it to you for Xmas. There were plenty of places at [Camp] Funston but there is not a one here. So I will try & get to Charleston as soon as I can and get it taken there. It is a poor excuse of a gift but I trust you understand the embarrassing financial circumstances of a buck private.

I will begin to think that I haven’t any little girl (or mother either) if I don’t begin to receive a letter or two pretty soon. If I don’t get one on Xmas I will be like the little boy [who said], “I know they ain’t no Santa Claus.”

They furnish the guard with rubber boots & flash lights & as most of the posts are somewhat sheltered, guard duty here is not half bad.

The “Y” made us a present of a Victrola today. We played some of those old pieces & I came almost to the edge of being homesick but thot better of it & decided I would put that off for awhile longer. They have put up a cedar tree in the company area & I suppose there will be some kind of entertainment tonight. Do you remember last Xmas night, & the one before, & the one before that? I do. Our cooks & the baker will do themselves proud tomorrow & I suppose we will have Xmas dinner with all the fixings, but of course it will not be like home or anyways near it. If I could only get up to W[ashington] D.C. [to visit my sister], I wouldn’t mind being away from home for Xmas but I don’t imagine these barracks will be “ringing with mirth & glee & happy voices around the Xmas tree.”

Dear, I send you lots of love & best wishes for a very merry Xmas & a happy New Year. And with it, I trust that we may be together before many months & enjoy the peace that has finally come to this earth. Goodbye, -- Ward

Letter 119 ~ December 21, 1918

A view of Explosives Plant "C" and Area "A" at Nitro, W. Va. in November 1918

I write my mother and brother Willis some details about our trip to Nitro, West Virginia. Much of it is the same material I wrote to Minnie on the same day but there is enough variation that I think I'll include it here in its entirety.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas

Nitro, West Virginia
[Saturday evening] December 21, 1918

Dear Folks,

It is raining now. It has been cloudy all day and raining part of this afternoon and evening. This is the kind of weather we will have most of the winter – slush and mud. If it is a little depressing outside, it is fairly nice inside compared to [Camp] Funston. We drew sheets and pillow slips today so we think we are getting pretty stylish. The inside walls of these barracks are covered with this beaver boarding and are painted white. The woodwork is stained brown and the outside is painted like our barn so it is a lot nicer place than Funston in that respect. We are still eating out of our mess kits but I think we will have dishes when we get better settled.

Our company went on guard today. We go on one day and [Company] F goes on the next. It only takes about fifty men all together for a guard so I don’t believe a fellow will have to go on oftener than once a week. We probably won’t have much to do besides guard because I doubt if we can find a level piece of ground big enough to drill on. The country around here is awfully rough. They say the hills are the foothills of the Alleghenies but they are much in the way of mountains. They are covered with oak and pine.

Nitro is about 14 or 15 miles north of Charleston. It is a large plant and employs around 50,000 people – both women and men. Lots of them are quitting now and part of the plant has shut down. The employees live in little cottages. There are rows and rows of them, stained brown and all alike.

There are a lot of U.S. Guards who guard the interior part of the plant. They are sort of a semi-military organization but do not belong to the army. I expect we will tangle up with them before we get out of here because they are pretty blamed stuck up and believe me, these regular army men don’t like to take anything off anybody.

Say, Willis, we can be satisfied with the place where we are farming because it compares mighty good with some of the places where people are trying to farm down here and on the road down here. Some places it looks as tho they would have to prop a stalk of corn up with a rock to keep it from sliding down hill. There would be a little patch of ground on a side hill with a rail fence around it and a few shocks of fodder in it. I suppose it must have been tended with a hoe and cut by hand. I saw some pretty nice farms but I saw lots of land that wasn’t fit for anything – rough and hilly, or swampy. We came thru the worst part of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana tho. The northern part is better.

I am glad I got to come on this trip because I think I can get loose in the spring. Aside from the drunks and lack of good grub, the trip was fine and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

We got into Kansas City after dark and as there were no cops around where we stopped, some of the fellows bought booze thru the car window. They weren’t allowed off the train. Well, from then on till we got off here there was one sloppy train. We stopped quite awhile at St. Louis and one of the sergeants slipped off and brought back a whole suitcase full [of liquor]. Even the officers got drunk and got to acting gay. One of them started to do the manual of arms with a shovel and he grabbed a broom and said he had to police up. One fellow got the idea in his head that he ought to clean out the car so he socked one fellow over the eye and drove him away from him. They finally got him to sleep and he slept till about noon the next day. We didn’t get much sleep the first night because of the fellows slopping around. One fellow across the aisle got sick and threw up out the window but others weren’t so lucky and spilled theirs all over the cars. It kept the porters hopping, I tell you.

The only thing hot we had on the road was coffee. The bread ran out Wednesday and the rest of the time we had to eat hardtack. It about knocked all the fillings out of my teeth. Canned tomatoes, corned beef, cheese, beans and canned apple sauce was about all we had.

I bought me a coat hanger and a shoe polishing outfit. We have to look neat here, and besides, a fellow wants to anyway because there is a feminine parade in front of our barracks everyday. A fellow can get a girl by just saying hello to them down here.

Well, it is nearly Xmas and I haven’t thot much about it. I did think I would have my picture taken and send to you folks for a Xmas present but I don’t believe there is a place to have that done here. And besides, I am nearly busted again, so if I can’t find anything here I will wait until I can get to Charleston after payday. I hope you folks have a merry Xmas and you might eat a piece of candy for me.

I got a card from [sister] Gussie saying they wanted me to come up [to Washington D.C. to visit], but even if I could get a pass long enough to get up there for Xmas, I wouldn’t have the money so I will wait until I get this month’s pay.

I hope everything is getting along alright and the weather is favorable for pasturing. Write often, even if there isn’t much news because I can’t get home on weekends anymore. Our mail got here as soon as we did but the only thing I got was that from Gussie.

Well, good night, -- Ward

[P.S.] I asked a conductor on the train how far it was to Washington and he said it was about 400 miles -- leave Charleston in the evening of one day and get there the next P.M. I would need four or five days. If anyone should ask you what I could use for a Xmas present, a good fountain pen would come in handy.

Letter 116 ~ December 14, 1918

Soldiers watching a football game at Camp Funston on Thanksgiving Day

I write my mother and brother that our departure from Camp Funston is imminent. This letter is abbreviated to eliminate some of the redundant material written in a letter to Minnie the same day.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas

Camp Funston
December 14, 1918

Dear Mother,

I have been sent over here to the “Y” to help answer telephone calls, run errands, etc. It doesn’t keep me very busy and so I can write in between. I attempted to call you up awhile ago but central [switchboard] said you didn’t answer so I will call again later...

Thursday afternoon we all had to go out and watch a football game in the rain. I don’t know what I would do these rainy days when we don’t drill it it wasn’t for the camp library. I have read several books lately and they are good ones too. I hope there is some kind of library where we are going but as it is only a small camp, they may not even have a “Y.” I expect guard duty will be pretty old before the winter is over.

... We have to get another shot in the arm either before we leave or shortly afterward for pneumonia.

I got me a pretty good ring but I paid more for it than I want you folks to spend on me for Xmas, so I will just call it my Xmas present from all of you and you won’t need to get me anything. This will be the strangest and I shouldn’t wonder but what it will be the loneliest Xmas I ever had. Some of the store windows show some decorations already. It doesn’t seem as tho it could be so near Xmas.

One or two of the boys’ fathers have been here trying to get discharges for their sons but they didn’t have any luck. We will just have to wait until spring anyway now,

Inspection passed off without any trouble this morning.

Harlow Hudson doesn’t know what he is talking about half the time. This division is not to be discharged and [General] Woods is still in command.

I am glad to hear that the sick folks are getting along alright and that Willis is getting the work done up so well. I hope the weather stays good now for awhile now that it has cleared off. Well goodbye and good luck, -- Ward

Footnotes:

• Ward purchased a plain gold infantryman's ring (crossed rifles on the face). He wore the ring until his son (my father) graduated from high school in 1940, at which time he gave it to him to wear in lieu of a class ring. The story goes that my father wanted to purchase a class ring but the family couldn't afford it so Ward gave him this ring instead. My father it wore it from that point forward, most of his life, until he passed it on to me and now I wear it. -- wjg

• Harlow K. Hudson lived in an adjacent farmhouse on College Hill northwest of Manhattan.

Letter 115 ~ December 14, 1918

The Camp Funston Library where Ward "made a pretty good start" reading all the books.

I tell Minnie what we've been doing at Camp Funston while waiting to be sent to West Virginia.

YMCA Letterhead
Addressed to Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, Kansas

Camp Funston
[Saturday] December 14, 1918

Dear Kid,

I have been sent over here to the “Y” & help answer the telephone & to run errands, etc. It doesn’t keep me very busy so I will try & write a little in between.

Passes are not being issued today except in cases of severe illness or death so of course I won’t get one. It seems like a long time since I have seen you now. What will it be by spring or summer or whenever I do see you? It seems too bad that you won’t be able to give a nice Xmas program as you had planned but I suppose the kids won’t mind it much if they don’t have to learn anything. I kind of hate to see Xmas coming because I am afraid my Christmas will be a little lonesome. It will be strange to say the least. Some of the store windows are already decorated I noticed last night and it sort of startled me & kind of made me homesick. We always thot a good deal of Xmas at home.

I don’t suppose you came home today or I would try & call you up this evening. I am going to get the folks if I can.

We didn’t drill Thursday & Friday but just hung around the barracks except when we all had to go to the parade ground & see a football game in the rain.

I don’t know what I would have done when we were idle if it hadn’t been for the Camp Library. There are lots of good books there & I have made a pretty good start at reading them. I have put in more time just lying around reading this week than I have ever before. Our company is on guard today but I didn’t have to. I guess we will get all the guard we want before the winter is over with.

We are going to leave tomorrow or Monday. Some of the companies of this regiment have already left. Most of the boys are wild to get out of here. They think Funston & Kansas are about two of the worst places this side of the infernal regions to hear them talk.

It looks as tho tomorrow would be a nice day. Gee, I wish I could come up & see you but it’s not what we want that makes us rich in this world. I wonder if you remember our first Xmas night together as I do? That was some time ago & lots of things have happened between & I expect lots of things will happen before we have another together too.

Well, Good Bye. Minnie, I do believe I’ll try to call the folks now. With lots of love, -- Ward

Letter 114 ~ December 11, 1918

I let my mother and brother know that I'm being transferred to Nitro, West Virginia to guard a munitions plant. Most of the content in the letter is repetitious of what I wrote Minnie on the same day so I'll only include the material that is different.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas

Camp Funston
December 11, 1918

Dear Folks,

Well, Willis, you might as well tell Mr. Hays to hand over that dollar because I will be about fifteen hundred miles away from home at Christmas.

Monday the Captain said ... we would likely go to Nitro, West Virginia sometime this week. I didn’t want to write you folks about it until we were ready to entrain. I was afraid it might be another of those false reports. However, we began to pack up yesterday so there isn’t any doubt but what we are going. They packed all the dishes so we are eating off of mess kits again. Lieutenant Boone said this morning that we were to go yesterday (we didn’t go out to drill at all) but they decided to wait until they could get Pullmans. We could have gone in chair cars yesterday but they thot that only two companies could go in more style than that, so we may not start until Monday.

Our job will be to guard the Hercules Powder Plant. He said it would be a ticklish job because the miners and munitions workers there didn’t like the soldiers. He said that if we went hunting for trouble, we could sure find it. There are tons and tons of high explosives stored there too so they will be mighty strict about what kind of a guard we put up. This place Nitro is about 15 miles north of Charleston, which is quite a large city and is connected [to Nitro] by trolley.

The Captain [said] they are going to keep 12 army divisions in the U.S. besides the men in Europe. Things are a long ways from settled and now South America is trying to start something.

The 20th [Infantry Regiment] is going to be scattered from Fort Riley to West Virginia. [Companies] A & B went to Fort Riley today. G & H go to Leavenworth. C & D go to Fort Brady (that is where we almost went), L goes to Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, E & F to West Virginia, and some go to Fort Sheridan. They will probably be assembled in the spring at Ft. Douglas, Utah.

Washington [D.C.] is only about 300 miles I should judge by the map from Charleston [West Virginia] so I may get a chance to go up there before coming home. Maybe you had better tell [my sister] Gussie to wait until you get my new address before she sends that paper. All men who were out on passes were called in by wire and no more passes are being issued, I will try and call you folks up just before I leave if I can. I got that pillow today. As soon as I get settled, I will want you to send me my serge suit probably. There are wooden barracks there similar to these here but of course the camp is very small. Our work all winter will be guard duty and close order drill. We went out to drill this morning and most of it was close order, but believe me it was snappy.

Well, I hope you folks will write often and tell me how the weather is and how the cattle are getting along, etc. I have been so close, I could tell about when you could pasture or not, but it will be different [when I am] there. This is still good pasture weather, isn’t it? I expect they are on the whole field now and doing fine.

Well, I will be home in two or three months any way so do the best you can. I would be home now if I could but I can’t so there is no use worrying about it. Write often and don’t worry about me. With lots of love, -- Ward

Letter 111 ~ December 8, 1918

The General Review of the 10th Division held on December 7, 1918
Ward Griffing paraded with men of the 20th Infantry Regiment

I tell Minnie about the 10th Division parade review in which I participated at Camp Funston. I also fill her in on what I did while on a pass to Manhattan on Sunday.

Addressed to Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, Kansas

At home [Manhattan, Kansas]
December 8, 1918

My little Girl,

My, but today has sure been a beautiful one, hasn’t it? This is the kind of day I would like to walk with you up to “our” rock. You know that place up in the hills where we fixed those sticks?

The parade came off yesterday & I was like a drop in the bucket. It was quite a sight & one I will remember for a long time. It will probably be the last time I will ever see so many trained men in a body. To my notion, there are but few things more pretty & grand than to see a well trained body of soldiers on parade -- the colors flying & the band playing & each one in perfect step. I tell you it gets into a fellow’s blood. Our regiment got back to the barracks after the parade about 11:30 & I asked for a pass & got it. They started granting four-day passes too the other day. We started off for the parade before daylight Saturday morning.

I thot sure that Willis would have the car fixed up by today. I wanted to come up [to Stockdale] yesterday afternoon or today [to visit you] but they had to send away for an [ignition] coil so it is still down town. It may be tho that I can use it next time if I am still in the country & the weather permits.

We are supposed to be on our way to Ft. Brady [in Michigan] some time this week but the fact is, I don’t believe we will get to go because they are issuing passes out of the regiment. I wouldn’t mind going up there just about a month but I do hope I can get home to help Willis out this spring [with the farming]. He will have it pretty tough if I don’t. I am beginning to believe that I won’t leave Camp Funston.

Willis & I went with the Hays [boys] hunting jack rabbits this morning. We went over to the college pasture back of your place. Caught three jacks. We saw your [Frey] boys & Arnold boys playing football over in your pasture so we went over there & fooled around with them awhile. They said that they went up & saw the parade yesterday. It sure was a fine day & the roads were pretty good too.

It is nearly Christmas, isn’t it? I expect you are getting ready for a Christmas program. I hope I can get home for Christmas dinner at least. Are you going to get down anytime before Xmas?

Keep well & write often. – Ward C. Griffing

General Wood, State Governors and Staff Reviewing the 10th Division at Camp Funston

Letter 108 ~ December 4, 1918

Minnie tells me she was embarrassed that her papa was unable to say grace when called upon by my mother at the family Thanksgiving dinner gathering.

Addressed to Pvt. Ward C. Griffing, Co E 20th Infantry, Camp Funston, Kansas

Stockdale, Kansas
December 4, 1918

Dearest Boy,

My, everything seems to be going just so smooth and nice. This has been the best week of school I believe I have ever had. Hasn’t today been just great? It was so warm and nice and this afternoon we didn’t have to have a fire at all. There was a honey-bee between the curtain and one of the windows all afternoon. It kept buzzing all the time. It seemed like spring. I wish it was time for spring. I just dread to think of winter.

We are well started on our Xmas program. I’m sure anxious to see what success it will be. Am afraid tho. The flu seems so much worse all around. We may not be able to have a [box] social. By Xmas we will have all our three weeks made up. If the children continue to work the way they have been, then maybe I will get Thursday and Friday off after Xmas day. I hope I do.

I would sure like to go up to Camp Funston Saturday [for the Divisional Parade]. The more I read about it, the more I want to go. But I guess I’d better teach instead and then anyway, my soldier boy didn’t invite me up.

Ward, I never will forget how embarrassed and what agony I was in the other evening when your mother called on Papa to ask the blessing. Ward Griffing, if there had been a hole for me to crawl into I would gladly have disappeared from this earth forever. I thought I had been in some very embarrassing situations in my life, but nothing has ever come up to that. Oh, if your mother had only called on Mama or any of the rest of the family almost, it would have been alright. But Papa never has done that. We always tried to get him to [say grace] at home. We told him it was absolutely ridiculous for anyone who professed to be a Christian not to, but he never would. Now he feels so ashamed, I believe he will [in the future]. Maybe some good will come of it. I would rather it would have happened anywhere on earth almost than at your home – and [with] Clause and Ruth there too. Glory, boy it is awful. And I tell you it kinda hurts to know your father has been laughed at, even if he does have his faults.

Isn’t Ruth a nice girl? I don’t know her, but she looks and seems like she would just be awfully nice if one was well acquainted with her – and jolly too.

I finished my book last night. I was sorry when it ended. I liked it fine and it would have gone on a little farther. Have you ever read it? (The Reclaiming) I don’t suppose you have unless at the “Y” at [Camp] Funston. It was just put out in October. Next week is the end of another month. I don’t like that I always have to put all the grades in the Register, make out report cards, and fill out the Monthly report to send in.

Ward, do you know how old children have to be before they are compelled to attend school? Dorothy [Condray] hasn’t been to school since a week before Thanksgiving. Her father called tonight and said he wasn’t going to send her for awhile yet. He’s afraid of the ‘flu.’ She’s seven years old and I thought they had to attend when they are seven. Mrs. Parkerson said I ought to report her but I’m not real sure. Maybe I’ve something around here that would tell me this.

I have another fine trade last for you Ward. Just the kind you would like to get, or at least I think you would. I can’t write it tho, there’s too much to it that I’d have to tell. I’ll bet this Christmas will seem rather lonesome. [My sister] Bertha won’t be at home for the first time, and she’s just great to have around then. I wish you could spend Xmas with me, at least part of it.

I see there has been one transport of men landed and two more on the way. I just wonder if there are any boys we know amongst them. I guess they are mostly wounded soldiers tho. That makes me think, have they heard anymore from Lester Foltz [not sure that’s the way to spell his name but you know who I mean] or have you heard. I hope he will be found alive. It seems worse to hear about them being missing now since the war is over than it did before.

Well, I must write home. Goodnight darling. Yours, -- Minnie

Footnotes:

• Corporal Lester Lawrence Foltz was the 24 year-old son of Cyrus Foltz and Hattie Whitney of Zeandale, Riley County, Kansas. In 1910, he lived with his 36 year-old sister Mildred, who was married to Perle Kimball of Ogden Township, Riley County, Kansas. Lester worked on a farm in Wakarusa, Shawnee County, Kansas just prior to the war when he enlisted in 1917. While serving in Company K, 140th Infantry, 35th Division, Lester was killed in action on 30 September 1918 following heavy shelling in the area between the town of Exermont and the Montrebeau Woods in the Meuse Argonne Offensive. He lies buried in the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery in France along with over 14,000 other WWI American soldiers.
  

Letter 107 ~ December 4, 1918

I write my mother and brother about the possibility of my being transferred to Ft. Brady up in Michigan.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas

Camp Funston
December 4, 1918

Dear Folks,

Well, I got my four-day pass just in time because when I got back here there was an order posted to the effect that no more furloughs, four-day passes, or weekend passes would be issued until further notice. This was dated the 28th and I got my pass on the 26th. The reason given was that the railroad systems were too crowded. Someone said that the 69th Regiment were getting four-day passes again so maybe I can get a weekend pass after awhile.

I called for my mail when I got back and along with three or four letters, I got that package we thot was lost. It had been lying there in the orderly room for quite awhile, I guess. A mouse had gnawed a hole in it and the fudge was dry but it disappeared anyway.

While I was gone, the men had been issued caps and gloves so I got mine Saturday afternoon. All the caps that were left were too small so mine just sits on my head.

Lieutenant Pierpont told me something Monday afternoon after parade that I don’t know whether to believe or not, and I don’t suppose I ought to say anything about it because it is so uncertain. He said that the 20th and 41st [Regiments] were just unlucky and had been picked out to be held after the rest of the division had been discharged. He said that we couldn’t expect to be discharged for six months. He said tho that we would leave this camp within two weeks but he didn’t know where. We heard later tho that the 2nd Battalion (that’s the one I am in) was going to Ft. Brady, Michigan, up near the Canadian line for guard duty. I sure hate the idea of going that far north for the winter but maybe we won’t. We have had so many false alarms that we can’t be sure until we are on the train, but indications point toward our staying in for a time yet because the other night we had our equipment remarked and they issued some leggings, shirts, and hats to those whose clothes were nearly worn out. I got another pair of shoes.

We haven’t been paid yet but I think we will be soon. I meant to bring that letter paper up with me this time but forgot all about it. Will you put that Larkin paper in that box of notepaper of mine and send them both up?

I am sore all over today. I played in the [football] game against H Company yesterday and it was a hard game. This sure is fine weather to pasture cattle, isn’t it? I sure hope it stays this way. Goodbye, -- Ward

Letter 106 ~ December 3, 1918

A map showing all of the army camps in 1918. Note Fort Brady in Upper Michigan.

I write Minnie about a possible transfer to some other army post for guard duty. I also let her know that I get relief from drilling because I am on the football squad at Camp Funston.

Letterhead: Knights of Columbus War Activities, Camp Funston

Camp Funston
December 3, 1918

Dear Kid,

Well, I got my four-day pass just in time. When I got back there was an order posted on the bulletin board to the effect that no more four-day or weekend passes or furloughs would be issued until further notice. This was dated the 28th, two days after I got my pass. The reason given was that the railroad facilities were inadequate. I think I was lucky for once in my life at last.

During my absence, the company had been issued caps & gloves so I got mine Saturday. The only caps that were left were all too small so to keep mine on, I had to cock it over one ear & if I keep from wagging my ears, I get along very nicely.

When I got back, I went into the orderly room & got my mail & there was that package we thot was lost. It had been in there quite awhile. I don’t know why I hadn’t gotten it sooner. They probably forgot all about it. The fudge was awfully dry but that didn’t make any difference in the way it disappeared. One of the socks had a hole gnawed into it by a mouse. I also got a letter from you that you wrote November 11. No telling how long it had been in the office either. I got those pictures. They are fair but I hope that we can get some better ones. I wish I had of had my picture taken when I was down home but if I don’t get home for some time, I can have it done here. Land knows there are plenty of places on the zone where they fight for a chance to take your picture.

I heard some news yesterday. I don’t know whether to believe it or not & for that reason I don’t suppose I ought to tell you about it. But it at least gives me something to write about. We had a regimental parade yesterday & when we were halted after the parade, the Lieutenant leading my platoon said that we didn’t expect to be discharged within six months. He said that the 20th and the 41st [Infantry Regiments] were unlucky because they had been picked to remain intact for some time, probably to do guard duty at some army post. He said that the 20th would leave this camp, however, inside of two weeks. He said he didn’t know where we were going but we have heard rumors of our going to Ft. Braden [Fort Brady] up in Michigan near the Canadian line. I sure hope it isn’t any farther north than this but I am afraid it may be. My, but you can’t imagine how I dread being in here six more months. But I am not going to worry about it until we are actually moved because lots of men from this camp are going to be discharged shortly after that Divisional parade which comes off Saturday. I had had hopes of being out by Christmas but maybe I won’t now.

I am on the football squad & so I haven’t drilled any this week. We have to go out to the drill field tho, and practice out there. When we got through with football practice, we went over to where the rest of the company had unslung their equipment. There is a Swede in the company that always makes a hog of himself at the tables. Well, we unrolled his pack & put about 8 or 10 iron grenades & another piece of old iron in it. We didn’t get to see him carry it but I’ll bet if he carried that load clear in, it nearly killed him. It sure tickled me because that “ornery” Swede sat next to me at the table once & all he ate was prunes. He grabbed that prune dish & filled his plate full & the rest of us didn’t get any. I expect we will get weenies again for breakfast tomorrow. We only had them once today.

Well, be good & write often. With lots of love, Ward Clarke Griffing

Footnotes:

• “The Zone” was a shopping and entertainment mall constructed during 1917-18 for the troops stationed at Camp Funston.

An infantryman in front of "The Zone" near Camp Funston in 1918. Note the depth of the mud.

Letter 101 ~ November 21, 1918

Minnie writes me the news from Sherman Township where she is teaching school.

Addressed to Pvt. Ward C. Griffing, Co. E 20th Infantry, Camp Funston, Kansas

Sherman, [Kansas]
Thursday Morning, November 21, 1918

Dear Boy:

Well I guess it’s time I’m writing again. Had a letter from Mama Tuesday. She said you were home this last weekend. I received a letter from you Monday that you wrote a week ago yesterday so I knew you hadn’t left Camp Funston Monday but not before.

Sunday we spent the day with Art Chalmers [and his wife Lena at their home in Grant, Kansas]. Had a dandy time in the evening. Then we went to the revival meetings up at the church.

I’ve been awfully busy with my school work this week. We’re trying to make up lost work. I’m not going to teach on Saturdays until after Xmas, if I do at all. We’re not going to have any Xmas vacation excepting one day. That may be all I’ll have to make up. I noticed in yesterday’s paper that the Teacher’s Meeting was to be postponed until January because of the ‘flu.’ That sure makes me peeved. But I guess it is best for all.

Isn’t this weather the limit? I’m going home this weekend sure. I can go down on the ‘Blue Valley’ [Railroad] and come back Sunday afternoon. Come to Riley, and then Mr. Brown will bring me out here. Since there is not going to be any Teacher’s Meeting, I will be home all Thanksgiving vacation – four days. Hurrah! Wish you could be home then too. I thought perhaps they would want me to teach on Friday but Mrs. Parkerson said they wouldn’t. She said I would want to go home for Thursday, then come back for Friday, then go home again Friday evening or Saturday and they wouldn’t expect me to do that just for one day.

I’m sure sorry Stella [Munger] has the ‘flu.’ It will put her back so with her work. Maybe I’ll hear from you today. I’d better – only one letter. Goodbye, -- M. F.
Footnotes:

• Probably Tom Brown, a 47 year-old garage mechanic. In the 1920 Census, he is the only Brown living in Madison Township where the town of Riley, Kansas was located.
  

Letter 100 ~ November 20, 1918

The regimental band plays outside the Auditorium at Camp Funston

I tell Minnie we are still being trained. I also mention something of the entertainment at Camp Funston. Camp Funston November 20, 1918 Dear Little Girl, I will hurry & write what I can before the entertainment begins. There is to be one of some sort tonight. There isn’t much news. We just keep drilling as usual. I don’t see what good there is in having the war over the way they continue to train us. We had our dinner in the field as usual today but about two o’clock instead of going right to drilling they assembled the whole regiment around a truck & we sang songs. Lieut. Guthrie led and the regimental band accompanied. It was rather cold today & especially this morning. We noticed it because we worked up a sweat marching to the field & the problem that we were out necessitated our being idle for about two hours because E Company formed the reserve of a line of outguards. We laid around behind rocks on the hill side out of the wind & piled up like pigs trying to keep warm. Tomorrow we go out to drill with our overcoats on. We signed the payroll tonight but we won’t get our pay until after the first. Our Company goes on guard tomorrow but I missed it this time. I expect I will have to go on sometime when I want to get off on a pass. I stopped to listen to a lecture on “Valley Forge” & when I looked around for my fountain pen someone had taken it. It was an illustrated lecture & was pretty good but the best part of the entertainment was an imitator. I heard him once about six years ago at a Chautauqua at Manhattan. He sure was fine. He would imitate things from the country & he almost made me homesick. He imitated roosters crowing, hens calling their chickens, cows, pigs, bees, etc. Why, he could fool the animals themselves. Well, I hope I hear from you tomorrow. I haven’t heard from you very often lately. Well, good night & sweet dreams. -- Ward

Letter 99 ~ November 19, 1918

I tell my mother and brother it's possible I might get a four-day pass to come home for Thanksgiving.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas

Camp Funston
November 19, 1918

Dear Folks,

I don’t see any use in having the war to stop the way they are drilling us. We are still drilling as hard as usual. There isn’t much news to write about – just the ordinary everyday life. We go on guard next Thursday and I suppose that I will be on this time because I wasn’t the other time.

Monday there was an order posted that 2% of the actual drilling force of the company would be granted 4-day passes each day beginning Monday. I went in to put in for one but he said I would have to wait awhile because I had had passes. Maybe I can get mine sometime near Thanksgiving. I sure hope so. Lots of the men are so far from home that they don’t care for even 4-day passes. Others say that they don’t want to go home until they can go and stay. Most of the men think that we will be discharged before so very long and I think so too, but of course we may not.

Well, I guess no one can kick about this kind of weather, can they? We are still able to work up a good sweat at times. There is a man making a talk here in the “Y” and I can’t write while he is spouting so I guess I’ll have to stop. I haven’t gotten that fudge yet. I don’t suppose I will ever get it now. I got a letter yesterday that you wrote last week. Well, goodnight, -- Ward

P.S. I don’t suppose that I will be able to get a pass next Saturday.

Letter 98 ~ November 18, 1918

I tell Minnie I celebrated her birthday by pulling K.P.

Camp Funston
November 18, 1918

Dear Little Girl,

Well it has been quite awhile since I have written something to you & I ought to be able to write a long letter & I have thot of lots of things to write about but when I go to write it down, there seems to be nothing interesting. I haven’t gotten a letter from you for a long time & I know that you haven’t received many from me this last week so I guess we are even.

Last Saturday was your birthday. I wonder how you celebrated it. I celebrated in the kitchen. I came back from the rifle range Friday & they put me on K.P. right off the range. Each fellow has to take his turn at it. While I was taking the fatigue clothes off the spuds & stirring the slum, I thought of you & your advancing years with tears in my eyes knowing full well that you would be a whole year older before I could enjoy your presence once more.

Friday afternoon after I got back, I went into the orderly room to put in for a pass. He asked me if I had one last week. I said I did & he said I couldn’t have one this week. I couldn’t have used it till Saturday night anyway being I was on K.P.

Well, I didn’t get very down hearted about it because the weather was so [bad] that night. The top sergeant (he is the gent that says yes or no) was in the kitchen. I accosted him at a very psychological moment, just after he had partaken of a very hearty supper & asked him again for a pass. He told me to come into the orderly room & he would fix me up. So I rolled down my sleeves, took off my apron (flour sack), slicked down my hair, knocked on the orderly room door (if you don’t knock, maybe you get a pass & maybe you don’t) entered, closed the door, popped my heels together, & snapped out a salute that would be the envy of any previous service man in the army. All this was done with the usual grace & elegant bearing of our gallant here.

Well, I got my pass & reached town about 8 o’clock [Saturday night]. I phoned out home & mother said that [my brother] Willis had already gone to town but went on horseback. I hunted around for him for awhile but couldn’t find him & so went to a [picture] show. You know you said that you were going to a show this time so I had hopes of seeing you inside as well as Willis. I found Willis just as I was ready to go home but walked out from the end of the car line anyway. If I didn’t walk just about so much every day I wouldn’t feel right.

I wish I could have seen you last Sunday before we start for Utah, if we go. We heard that the 20th [Infantry] was going back to Ft. Douglas at Salt Lake [City], Utah for the winter. I would like to go but I am afraid we won’t. I think that we are more liable to stay right here in [Camp] Funston until we are discharged. The 20th [Infantry] came from Ft. Douglas & most of the boys are wild to get back there. Many of them are enlisted men & will not be discharged until their time is up. They were sure disappointed that they didn’t get to go across [to Europe] because most of them have been training for over a year. I want to go mighty bad but now that the war is practically all over, the sooner they discharge Pvt. Ward Griffing, the better suited he will be.

We got up at five o’clock this morning & went out to the field with our dinners in our haversacks: 1 sandwich & 1 hard boiled chicken in the shell.

They are issuing four day passes again & I went in to see if I could get one soon. They said I would have to wait for a week or two because I had had two passes already. I hope I can get mine about Thanksgiving time.

Well, I will have to tell you the rest [later] I guess because they are going to put the lights out pretty soon. So Good Bye Minnie, -- Yours, as ever. -- Ward

[P.S.] This is my last sheet of paper.

Letter 97 ~ November 17, 1918

My mother writes Minnie to tell her they had a nice visit with me. I talked my way into a pass Saturday evening and came home to Manhattan for the rest of the weekend.

Addressed to Miss Minnie Frey, Sherman, Kansas, c/o Mrs. Parkerson

Manhattan, Kansas
November 17, 1918

Dear Friend Minnie:

Willis, Carol and I took Ward downtown tonight for him to take the [interurban] car back to [Camp] Funston. He would have waited until morning but he felt that we all would have a better night’s rest if he left tonight. Then too, the visit does not amount to very much while we sleep, or try to. He did the same way last week and got up there before the lights were out. For cold weather, I think likely it is really the better way to do although we always want him to stay as long as possible.

He was going to write to you this evening, got his paper and pen, but we talked to him so much that he did not get it written. So I thot just for fun I would send you a little note. I want to congratulate you for your birthday and to wish for you many many more and that they may be very happy ones.

I am thinking that likely some little girlie was rather lonely and blue last night and today. It has not been a very pleasant day and one is likely to be more lonely at such times. I trust that something happened to make the time pass pleasantly for you.

Ward said that he is likely to have to winter in Utah [and] that they may have to leave [Camp] Funston between the 20th & the 30th [of November] from what he has been hearing.

It is too bad that Stella [Munger] has been sick. It will make her school quite late in the spring.

Our birthday club met with Mrs. Taylor last Friday and as usual, Kate was very anxious to know what Ward thot about the boys having to go across [to Europe] and when they would likely get out, &c, &c.

Ward said today that he rather believes that he may get out in time to help Willis on the farm some next summer. We are certainly hoping so. Claude [Cunningham] was up to see the Taylor’s yesterday. He said that they were to have gone up to see Mr. Blair’s people today if it had not stormed [and] that his father has bot a farm for him to go onto as soon as he gets out of the army. Well I wonder if you are not tired of my scratching.

Very lovingly, -- Hattie Griffing

Letter 94 ~ November 13, 1918

Infantry at Mess on the Rifle Range at Camp Funston

I write Minnie about training again on the rifle range. I still hold out hope of going overseas and don't anticipate being discharged until next spring despite "Kaiser Bill's" defeat. This letter to Minnie is a near duplicate to one I wrote my mother on the same day from the Camp Republican "Y." I have only included here, in parenthesis, the one sentence that was different.

Letterhead, “Army and Navy Young Men’s Christian Association
‘With the Colors’”
Addressed to Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, Kansas

Range Camp
November 13, 1918

Dear Kid,

I expect you must think by now that I must have left Funston. I might as well have so far as writing accommodations go.

As soon as I had breakfast Monday morning, I had to make up my pack and start to march out to the rifle range. [It is a long ways out there, especially when you are taking nearly everything you own. But I rode on a truck part of the way and a taxi part of the way.] Some of the other men of my company went out Sunday night but as I happened to be somewhere else, I didn’t go.

I didn’t take any writing material but if I had, tonight is the first time I could have written because we have sure been working. We have been shooting at night as well as all day as long as we could see the target. Last night we had to shoot with our gas masks fixed. I used to think it was lots of fun to shoot that rifle but I have shot so much now that it is an old story.

We don’t get any too much to eat while we are out here. For dinner yesterday we had 1 cup of coffee & one bologna sandwich. Today we had 1 slice of bread, a few beans, coffee & hardtack. Bread and beans for dinner and beans and bread for supper. Monday night I nearly froze. We got in so late we didn’t have time to fill our ticks with straw & with only 3 blankets; I tell you it was somewhat cool.

I haven’t had a bit of mail since last week Tuesday & I probably won’t get any until I get back to Funston. I don’t know when that will be but I think we ought to be able to finish the course by Thursday night & get to Funston Friday. We are on the 500 & 600 yard range now.

Well how do you feel about the way Kaiser Bill is cutting up now? He is a little slow about running but he finally did it. I think he was afraid of the 20th [Infantry] after I was transferred into it & thot he ought to get out before we came over.

No one is allowed to go across unless their range record is complete so it was necessary for me to get right out on the range. Our Lieutenant said that the war looked a [hell] of a lot from being over & that we also looked a whole lot more from being out of the army. It is mighty hard to tell what they will do with us fellows but I was hoping to be let out sometime next spring. I don’t know whether we will stay at [Camp] Funston this winter or not. I sure hope I hear from you soon.

Are you going to make up your school work? We have been fortunate in having good weather for target practice because some of the regiments had to shoot during that rainy weather & it made no difference whether it was raining or not, the men had to shoot. They are playing a Hawaiian piece on the Victrola here in the “Y” and it makes me almost homesick for a big armchair in front of a fine big fireplace not many miles from here.

Well goodnight, my Little Girl, -- Ward

Letter 79 ~ October 30, 1918

Minnie writes me that the flu has gotten worse in Manhattan and that her school may get canceled yet another week.

Addressed to Pvt. Ward C. Griffing, 25th Company, 164th Depot Brigade, Camp Funston, Kansas

Manhattan, Kansas
October 30, 1918

My Dear Ward:

Received the letter today you wrote Saturday and Sunday evening; also two cards from you. It sure seemed nice. My, but I’m glad you got back and it was alright. Wasn’t it nice tho for them to have the stove up and everything sailing. I was awfully surprised tho when your mother said this morning that you left about 2:30 Sunday afternoon. I supposed you stayed all afternoon anyway.

I was downtown this afternoon, saw [your brother] Willis for the first time since he’s been sick. He doesn’t look any the worse for it, does he? I wish I had of seen him before he shaved his mustache. I bet he sure looked funny.

I was going over tonight, but it was pretty late when I got home and the horse was out in the pasture so I didn’t get to go. I called your mother and told her I couldn’t come tonight but would tomorrow. She called later and wanted me to come tonight if I could [since] Willis wouldn’t be at home tomorrow, but I couldn’t so I’m going tomorrow evening.

I got a lot of my book outlined today. It seems like I might be going to school doing that.

I sent you a box of candy today. Be sure to tell me when you get it because I sent it insured and I’ll get my money [back] if you don’t get it. But of course you will. I wanted to send you some and it’s so hard to get sugar. I had to buy the candy instead of making it. I’d rather make it – it’s more fun.

I expect you are all nicely settled back at D[etention] camp, aren’t you?

The influenza is worse here in Manhattan again, much to my sorrow. I may not have school again next week. Isn’t that the limit? I hope I do tho. I don’t want to teach a whole extra month next spring, especially if you are at Camp Funston. I want to get home so I can see you as often as I can.

If you are moved down to Camp Funston next week, you’ll not be sent away very soon will you? That will sure be great if you can go down there and be in the barracks. Soon you’ll feel like you are in a palace, won’t you, after being in those tents and a little candle light at night, and land knows what else. Then you will probably get off every weekend.

The next quota for Riley County is 77 men. That’s quite a few. I don’t see who’s going to do the work next summer – we girls I guess.

Maybe I’ll think of something else to write tomorrow before the mail man comes. I’ve a lot of extra paper here I would like to scratch over. Good night Boy – Minnie G. Frey

Letter 76 ~ October 29, 1918

I write Minnie about being moved back to detention camp and that I expect to be issued winter clothing soon.

Addressed to Miss Minnie G. Frey, Manhattan, Kansas

Camp Republican
October 29, 1918

Dear Kid,

Well I have gotten back to [Detention Camp] No. 2 & have gotten my barracks bag & am all settled. There are only six in this tent. It is a brand new tent & has a good stove in it. One of the men has a little pine table & I am writing at it now. It sure is swell here after what we have been [living] in for the last two weeks. A truck load of new winter clothing drove up in from of headquarters this P.M. so probably we will be issued our new clothing tomorrow. It looks like awful poor stuff compared to what was issued a year or two ago. Every man from the 26th Company packed up & was hauled out on trucks this evening. I don’t know where they went but I imagine it was down to [Camp] Funston. I hear that this company is likely to do the same next Tuesday.

Johnny Clarke told me tonight that while I was gone, my name was called for a transfer. I would have been placed in the Signal Corps and would have been stationed at Ft. Leavenworth for training. About 18 of the boys are up for transfer tonight to go into the aviation. Either one of these corps would suit me lots better than the infantry.

I got two letters from you today. You asked about the proper way to address my letters. The correct way is Pvt. so and so. We never use Mr. in the army. I know because I have heard men called for it. It is perfectly alright not to use any title at all just as you did in your last letter because it is a civilian letter. But in a strictly military letter, the military title is required & no civilian title goes. The letters will come any way they are addressed & as that is what you want & the letters are what I want, so don’t worry about how to address them.

Say Minnie, I want to apologize to you & your folks for not saying goodbye. They must have thot I did not appreciate staying there, but I thot of course that I would be back Sunday evening & I could say goodbye then. And too, [your brother] Lester put himself out to come down & get me. I felt sort of bad when I left home because things hadn’t been kept up on account of Willis’ sickness. Things sure looked neglected, but of course it couldn’t be helped & we can be thankful it wasn’t any worse. The weather is so good now. I expect he will get out pretty soon.

I wonder what you folks on College Hill will do for Halloween? I sure wish I could go to a house party again on Halloween like we used to. Remember that Halloween at Hartley’s? I do. I feel just swell tonight & hope all my loved ones do the same. Goodnight. -- Ward

Footnotes:

• John W. and Elizabeth Hartley lived in a farmhouse close to the Griffing’s on College Hill. They had three daughters and one son, all younger than Ward and Willis.
  

Letter 71 ~ October 26, 1918

I begin a letter to Minnie on Saturday morning telling her about field training. I don't finish the letter until Sunday evening after slipping in a visit to Manhattan to see her without a pass.

Addressed to Minnie G. Frey, Manhattan, Kansas

Smoky Hill Flats
Saturday, October 26, 1918

Dear Kid,

Rain & Mud! Rain & Mud! Gee Whiz, it rained nearly all night & cold! Oh no it is not cold. We are sitting around waiting to be called out any minute so I will start a letter & if I don’t finish it now, maybe I can tonight. It is raining now & we are ordered to be ready to go into the trenches at 1:15 with rifle, bayonet, gas mask, blanket, shovel, etc. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I’ll bet the water is knee deep in some places in there. I wrote you a card last night & said that maybe we would get into D.2. Sunday. Today we have heard that we won’t go until Tuesday. That means 3 more days in this nice, warm, clean, dry & perfectly grand place. But 3 days is about 1,000,000 times better than six weeks. That is what the order was when we moved camp.

The last letter I wrote to you I sent to Stockdale because I supposed you would be teaching. That very same day I got your letter saying that you would be home. I am sorry because you won’t get it for so long. I haven’t gotten any mail from you for 3 days now & none from mother for 2 days. I sure want to hear something pretty soon.

This morning we had to get up the usual time 6:15 & slop out in the rain to stand reveille. Then we lined up for mess & stood & shivered in the chow line for awhile till they said that there would be no breakfast for an hour & a half. The water had run into the kitchen & put the fire out. When we did get it, it was bread, potatoes, corn flakes, pet milk, prunes & coffee. The coffee out here is simply terrible but it warms a fellow up.

Oh joy, I’ve just been up to the supply tent to buy me some candy (at least that is what they call it) & I heard that the battle is to be postponed. Sometimes the officers show a gizzard if they haven’t any heart. Now it can rain as long as it wants to because I expect we will not have to go out at all today except to get our fodder.

Thursday afternoon about five o’clock, we went into the trenches. We carried 1 blanket, gas mask, helmet, raincoat, rifle & ammunition & mess kit & cup. Before going in, the 25th Company boys had their picture taken. I think I can get some prints & if I can will send you one. We had quite a lot of different kinds of trench fighting & came out about 10 o’clock. We had supper in the trenches. Then Friday morning we went back & staid until about five o’clock. It was sure raw out there yesterday, standing on the fire step looking out towards the other set of trenches over “no man’s land.”

I got those pictures [you took of your school children] the other day. They sure were interesting. It looks as tho Sherman [Township] could furnish her quota of soldiers judging by the male members of the district school. I would like to see some more pictures of you & the folks. I am still hoping that I can get a pass some time but it won’t be for a little time anyway. We have heard that the quarantine is to be lifted today at Camp [Funston] but I don’t know whether that is true or not. It would be just my luck to get a pass on a real stormy Sunday & you would be up to your school. But believe me, I won’t turn down any kind of a pass – just so it’s a pass. I would give a lot just to get a pass to Ft. Riley.

This is Saturday. Let me see. Guess I’ll go over & see Minnie tonight. It is rainy & cold; she will have a dandy fire in the fireplace & maybe some popcorn to pop.

Sunday Evening
Smoky Hill [Flats]

Well here I am again instead of being in a big chair in the parlor of a certain house on the Blue Valley road. I expect Martha will have told you about that fellow calling me up today at noon. He called up & the first thing he said was, “I’m afraid we are caught.” So we arranged to meet at the hotel & get right back to camp. When I found him he said that he was eating in the College Inn & another man from College Hill recognized him & said that he had heard that they were moving camp today & that it would be best for us to be there. Well we fooled around town a little & then got on the trolley & went to Ft. Riley. We caught a jitney & went out to [Detention Camp] No. 2 & found out out there that the camp wasn’t being moved so we didn’t hurry back over. We fooled around at No. 2 & had mess there & then caught a jitney back to Ft, Riley. Well we thot that we might just as well be hung for sheep as lambs so we went to the Ft. Riley [Post] Exchange & filled up on sundaes etc., & then walked on out here to camp.

The fellows here in the tent had the dandiest fire going. The little stove was red hot & they have a can of water against the side of the stove that is actually steaming. I am going to shave tonight so as to have hot water. Gee! But it is fine in here compared to what it was yesterday. There wasn’t enough stoves, nor pipe enough to go around so we sure are lucky.

The boys said that no bugles blew last night & none this morning, no formations at all so we will get by like a streak of lightning. They say that we are likely to go in tomorrow without pulling off that battle because the trenches are in awful shape. Shucks, after we get a nice fire & then move us out. Guess I’ll ask them to let us stay longer. Another thing I heard while at No. 2 was that very likely the whole Depot Battalion will be transferred to [Camp] Funston about the 5th of next month. I won’t mind that a bit, will you?

You might phone to Mama as soon as you get this because I may not get to write to her for awhile. I must shave & get ready for bed, so Good Bye. Hoping to see you again soon. As ever, -- Ward

Footnotes:

• Jitney was originally a slang word for a nickel, or five cents. The word then came to be used for a bus that carried passengers along a regular route, since the fare for these rides were five cents. Buses like this continued to be called jitneys long after the fares rose. The word's first known appearance is in 1903, in the 'nickel' sense. The 'bus' sense is first attested in 1914, but seems to have become popular very quickly, since we have a number of pre-1920 examples of the term. The ultimate origin of the word is unknown.
  

Letter 66 ~ October 23, 1918

I tell my mother and brother about the trench attack we staged and also about what we hear as far as camp rumors.

Addressed to Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas
Smoky Hill Flats
October 23, 1918

Dear Folks,

Well, I can still eat my ration of beans and cabbage with the rest of them. This living in the open and working as we do sure gives a fellow an appetite and I have never felt better in my life.

I sure had a sore foot a few days ago. The issue socks are thin and when they got wet, they rolled up behind my heel, and before I came in at night I had a good sized blister. The next day I wore them again and of course that made it no better. The blister festered and swelled. Believe me, I had a hard time dragging that foot around at 120 steps per minute. I have been wearing those woolen socks you sent me since Sunday and my foot is well now. I am not going to wear another cotton sock as long as I am in this army if I can help it – and maybe longer. Those wool socks are so much better when a fellow keeps getting his feet wet.

I thot sure I was coming down with the “flu” the other day. My head ached severely and I just felt bum. I went to bed early and I am sure I had a little fever, but I was so determined not to get it that I didn’t report to sick call in the morning. It was rainy and nasty and we went out and dug trenches. Pretty soon we were called in and policed up camp, and were given the rest of the forenoon to clean our pieces and police up ourselves. I sure was glad because I had a chance to keep in the dry.

In the afternoon, we were ordered to strike our tents and we moved camp back farther away from the river. That was last night. Tonight we are so much at home here as tho we were born here. This is a better place and the camp is lined out better because it is to be here for quite awhile. They even started a good road in front of the kitchens.

We understood last night that we were to stay here for about six weeks, but again today we hear that we are to return [to Camp Republican] at the end of the week. So you know just as much as I do how long I will stay here. We men out here will probably do one of two things – either be transferred into the 10th Division, which has now started to move, or be held as the skeleton of a new division which will be formed at Funston as soon as the 10th moves. We have heard both things and don’t believe either.

The weather sort of half-way cleared up today and things are getting dried off a little. We had another trench attack today, only on a larger scale. The riflemen were issued 60 rounds and the automatics 120 rounds. The bombers had eight grenades apiece. Some of the fellows get so nervous they don’t want to throw their grenades but I think it is more fun than a picnic and it sure is good practice for a fellow because we have to charge thru wire entanglement and charge over trenches.

Well, I hope Willis is all right now but I expect he doesn’t feel very well yet. This is bad weather for influenza.

There is a fellow in my tent has a stationary outfit that is might handy for the barracks bag. I wonder if you could find one in town like it for me. It is covered with paper and folds like a book. These are pockets for envelopes and stamps and letter paper and a tablet, and places for pencil and pen. It is handy and everything is together.

A fellow just now came in who had gone over to the camp after some of his luggage. He said that there was quite a lot from there transferred to the 10th [Division] but that the men who were over here and had their names on the transfer [list] were crossed out so maybe we will not be in the 10th after all.

Here’s hoping I get to see you soon. Goodbye, -- Ward