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

Dear Alberta,                                         August 19/18 Somewhere in France

Haven’t written to you in a long time nor have I heard from you since I left Camp Mills nearly a month ago. Hope you haven’t forgotten me. I didn’t do any writing on the boat because I wasn’t in a writing mood on account of sea sickness part of the time and being busy the remainder.

Well, at last we have landed in the promised land and are enjoying ourselves immensely trying to talk French with the townspeople and sampling their wines which we are allowed to buy between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. every day. The wines here are quite reasonable in price too. Champagne cost but 10 Francs (2 dollars per bottle) while in the U.S.A. it costs about $8.00....

We are drilling every day and I expect we will until we are ready to go into action. We don't get much war news here but from what the French soldiers say the outlook is good. The French, especially the soldiers, are very grateful to the Americans for what they have done and are not a bit backward in expressing their feelings. They seem to enjoy trying to understand what we say and with the help of our French books we are able to talk with them a little.

Must stop not and get my canteen filled up with vin (wine) before 9 p.mp.,, so goodbye with heaps of love to you and the folks...