Soldier Lewis Anderson--France
September 29, 1918
14:01
Dear Mom and Dad,
Oh, Mom and Dad, this will probably be the last time you'll ever hear from me, your beloved son, Lewis. You see, I was shot in the chest and leg two days ago, right after the fighting began. There were many others that were shot and killed instantly; I'm lucky that I was able to go to the hospital, even though the doctor says that I may not live much longer. I have a lot of blood loss and there is an infection spreading over me.
Please tell everyone that I love them. Tell Johnny he can have my card set and tell Abby that she can have my teddy bear. I probably won't live another week, but if I do, I'll write you again.
Love,
Lewis
P.S., If I do pass, I love you all very much and will miss you forever.
Nurse Annette Davis--Germany
November 11, 1918
11:00
My Dearest Bill,
I cannot stand it anymore; the things that I am seeing are terrible. The men that I see are all mangled; they have limbs dangling and blown off legs and arms. It's a terrible sight, terrible sight. It's bad. I don't know if I can go another day seeing this. The men are dying in droves and many more fall sick every day.
Oh, how I miss you! You are so lucky that you weren't sent over here and have to see all that I do everyday. It's unbearable. On the bright side, I only have one week left of duty, and then I can come home. Then, we'll finally be able to get married.
Love,
Annette
Soldier Bill Carlson--Germany
September 18, 1918
19:00
...These trenches are terrible! All I ever see are dead bodies and rats...what a sight. Men are getting sick and dying everyday. Three of my friends have already passed and two more are sick. It will be terrible if they go too. I've been very lucky. The only thing that I've had is lice, but that's not uncommon around here. Everyone has it; even if we get our clothes cleaned, we're free of them for a while, but then they're back.
I wish I could go home! I miss my mom and dad, even my brothers and sisters. I miss my friends, home, everything and everyone. Well, only one month left. Let's hope I make it through...
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Reaction Essay
The two packets that I read were absolutely awful, not meaning boring or bad, but in disgusting. I cannot imagine going through what they had to go through each and everyday that they were in the trenches. There were so many gross things like the rats, sanitary conditions, lice, and the mud.
The most terrible thing would have to be the rats. The rats would not only munch on a dead person, but also on a wounded person. The would walk around the men at night and steal their food in their sleep. Not only would the eat "real" food, but they'd eat the eyes and livers of dead people. These rats, which weren't your everyday household-size rats, had a big population and were just disgusting.
Another thing that I found awful were the sanitary conditions. There were many sick people and many diseases around. There was garbage and human wastes all around the trenches--there were supposed to be latrine pots, but those weren't used and weren't effective in helping the sanitary conditions. There were also dead bodies spewed all over the place...not to mention the rats.
Lice was also a common, daily thing. It was everywhere. The men would try and get rid of them by cleaning themselves and their clothing, by putting fingernails on the seams of their clothes, anything to get rid of them. Nothing helped. Even if they put their clothes in a "Foden Disinfector" it would get rid of the lice, but not the eggs; within minutes they'd be crawling with more lice.
Mud was also a daily encounter in the lives of the men. Some people would actually drown in it. Some would make it through very slowly, like going 1200 yards in three hours slow, and some would get trapped in it.
The shells that had gas in them were also terrible; some contained chlorine gas and some contained mustard gas, the worse of the two. If someone got sick from the gas, it would take them a month or more to die. One way that they tried to protect themselves was to put a cotton pad over their mouth and nose...that was covered with urine. Gross...how very, very gross.
There were so many terrible things that they encountered while living in the trenches, and many of the things that were in the packets, I didn't know before. All I know is that the trenches were terrible places to be!
The most terrible thing would have to be the rats. The rats would not only munch on a dead person, but also on a wounded person. The would walk around the men at night and steal their food in their sleep. Not only would the eat "real" food, but they'd eat the eyes and livers of dead people. These rats, which weren't your everyday household-size rats, had a big population and were just disgusting.
Another thing that I found awful were the sanitary conditions. There were many sick people and many diseases around. There was garbage and human wastes all around the trenches--there were supposed to be latrine pots, but those weren't used and weren't effective in helping the sanitary conditions. There were also dead bodies spewed all over the place...not to mention the rats.
Lice was also a common, daily thing. It was everywhere. The men would try and get rid of them by cleaning themselves and their clothing, by putting fingernails on the seams of their clothes, anything to get rid of them. Nothing helped. Even if they put their clothes in a "Foden Disinfector" it would get rid of the lice, but not the eggs; within minutes they'd be crawling with more lice.
Mud was also a daily encounter in the lives of the men. Some people would actually drown in it. Some would make it through very slowly, like going 1200 yards in three hours slow, and some would get trapped in it.
The shells that had gas in them were also terrible; some contained chlorine gas and some contained mustard gas, the worse of the two. If someone got sick from the gas, it would take them a month or more to die. One way that they tried to protect themselves was to put a cotton pad over their mouth and nose...that was covered with urine. Gross...how very, very gross.
There were so many terrible things that they encountered while living in the trenches, and many of the things that were in the packets, I didn't know before. All I know is that the trenches were terrible places to be!
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