Somewhere in France, Aug. 15, 1918
Dear Sister,–
Received your first letter, which you wrote about June 10 the other day also the papers which were in good shape.
I suppose you will want to keep this letter as a souvenir when you hear that it is being written in a dugout, only a few lines from the German first line trenches by the light of candle. we are out in “No Man’s Land” in advance of our own trenches in a listening post.
It isn’t homelike, I’ll admit, except the Fatima cigarettes and the Durham. I expect to go back of the lines in a few days though, as I have been here for quite a long time.
No doubt by this time the harvesting is almost through. I read by the paper that the crops are good. The climate here is rotten. It almost freezes you at night and roast you in the day time.
We have lots of company here, I mean in the trenches, unwelcome at that. French rats (bears) and cooties (lice). We have some cats which are supposed to take care of the rats, but the rats being the larger they usually lick the cats.
Well, as this page is almost used up I’ll close.
As ever, Your Brother, Emmett. Prvt. Emmett O’Neil, Co. D. 139th U.S. Inf. American E.F.