Sidney D. Light's WWI Diary, Postcards & Letters, 329th Battery Book Accounts

My dear Alberta,

.....We have heard nothing in regard to coming back to the States as yet and yesterday drew a lot of harness, saddles and equipment to replace articles that were lost in action and turned in before we went into action. I don’t know as this specifies anything in regard to leaving here or not but it looks to me as though we may be going to move up into occupied territory and if we do we will not see the States before June 1st next year. Of course we are in hopes that we will turn this equipment in and leave on foot.

Gee, but this is a lonely place. Most of the colored fellows have left for the coast and there are comparatively few men left in the town, they being spread out all over the berg. The colored fellows were great entertainers and they were forever putting on shows, boxing bouts, etc in a large building here so that we didn’t want for excitement or entertainment. However, we are getting our bunch together now and are planning on giving the bunch some entertainment soon in the line of boxing or wrestling as we have some mighty good material in the battery.

Did I ever send you a programme of the minstrel show that our battery put on at Camp Coetquedon while we were in training there? I sent some home but I don’t believe they ever received them as no mention was ever made of it. If I can get hold of another one I send it onto you. We had a nice show and the camp went wild over it. They showed four or five times there and were planning on a tour of the neighboring cities when we were ordered up.

The climate in this part of France is wonderful and I cannot realize that it is December 5th and it is as mild as it is. The grass is green and the gardens (which the Huns planted) are not damaged by frost yet. I imagine that you are seeing some snappy weather in Michigan about now.

If we’ve got to stay on this side for another six months I would much prefer going up into Germany and seeing it all before I went back but it will mean a lot more hardships and inconvenience. We have heard how wild the people of Detroit went when the news of peace came and was officially announced. Too bad we couldn’t have been there to help make a little more noise, but I guess we’ll get there some time or other. I, for one have given up hopes of being back before Spring but of course would not be a bit disappointed to receive orders to go back....