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Somewhere in Germany

Aug 12 1918

Dear Sam & the rest of the tribe
I will drop you a few lines to let you know that I am still kicking & am well & hearty & I hope these 
few lines find all of you well & enjoying yourselves.  We are still where we can keep the Germans awake 
at nights & cause them to worry.  The boys are all feeling fine & we can get some fun out of the game.  
The weather stays cool & we have some rain now & then to keep us from getting to dry.

I got my first letter from Mose, & also from Dave & Annie since I left Ft. Sill.  They write some often, 
Dont [sic] they, 

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2.

They wrote that all well well, but said nothing about receiving the money I sent them.  Say the cooks 
had an exciting time a few days ago.  They stepped out of the cook shack for a minute & when they got 
back, 2 rats had a 10 gallon can of hot coffee & were leaving with it & 2 more had started to take a 
big kettle of beans off the fire.  If they had been a minute or 2 longer, would have been without coffee 
or beans for dinner.

The rats borrow our hard shelled hats & rifles & make bayonet charges on each other.

One of them started off with a blanket, 

3.

but got it fast on the door & had to leave it, as the owner of the blanket was hot on his trail.

We also have lots of yellow jackets, but they are just like those at home, for they sit down to [sic] hard.

Now dont [sic] laught & get it all over your face, because I tell a few small stories.  It looks as 
tho [sic] a cyclone had struck one town near us also a bunch of timber.

I guess it was a cyclone but different kind of one from what struck Green City neighborhood.

When the shelling was over there wasnt [sic] much left that looked like anything, but just a wreck.

The Boche had to move & I dont [sic] think they liked that.

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Well, how is everything around old kirksville,  I would like to drop in this evening & take supper 
with you & talk over old times.  But if I could see you, now you would want to know about my travels, 
before we could talk of anything else.

After I help finish the job over here I can mak [sic] you a long visit & not have to hurry about it.  
Well I guess that is all for this time.  With best wishes to all, I remain
Your Friend
Irwin

OK
Lt Cater

Mech. I. M. Runyon
Co C - 139 Inf
A.E.F. 
via N.Y.

W.W.I.138.47