Camp Grant, Ill., Oct. 1918

Dear brother Joe,

Received your letter today and was very glad to hear from you. I am over my sickness if I don’t get another one as it is awful damp out and raining. I’ve got a rain coat on so I won’t get wet. Well, Joe, our dearest brother, George, is gone. I just feel awful bad. I could go crazy over the poor kid. I just found out last night. I got a letter from my girl. She didn’t know but said she heard one of my died but didn’t know which one. I couldn’t believe it until I got a letter from mother and told me about it. Oh, it just about killed me right there. It can’ be helped, we all have to go some day.

I got warm clothes right after I came out of the hospital. Two suits of woolen underwear, a sweater, another blanket and a pair of gloves. They sure treat a soldier fine at the hospital. I sure was sick. I had influenza the first day then I got pneumonia. I never want it again. They stole a shirt, 3 towels, 2 handkerchiefs, a pair of leggings and all my soap. I’ll have to buy a shirt now.

I can’t get a furlough now. They say after this sickness is over we can go home as long as we want to. The only thing I wish that I could come to George’s funeral.

Well Joe, you’ll get rich if you keep that job long. I will my next pay day, missed my last one. Pa sent me $10, that will help some. I don’t need much money now. I had a pretty fair crop. I was just getting started on the farm. Pa and ma were afraid that no one could enter this camp now. If you have a friend or someone in the hospital you can come and spend ten hours a day. Will tell you how this sickness started on me. I got a head ache one day, then my nose bled nearly all night. Then I got so dizzy I could hardly walk and so chilled I couldn’t get warm. Was that way for three days then I went to the hospital and what happened then I don’t know. Got fever 106 and 105. I know that my lungs hurt me awful bad, but got good care. Good thing we have so many nurses here.

It’s raining pretty hard tonight and have quite a ways to walk yet, so will quit.

With love from Theodore Weltsch, 7^th Co. Inf., Camp Grant, Ill. P.S. – I now belong to the 7^th company