Letter, 27 August 1918 with cover
Item
Title
Letter, 27 August 1918 with cover
Description
Frank Raymond Lane, Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky, to Nellie Rahe, Milan, Indiana.
Creator
Source
Manuscript Collection, The Filson Historical Society
Date
Format
Language
Identifier
Mss. A L265 / 1
Text
Letter addressed to Miss Nellie F. Rahe, Milan, Indiana, Rural Route #2, Box 52
Postmarked Thursday, August 29, 1918.
16 Battery
Officers Training School,
Camp Taylor, Kentucky
Aug 27, 1918
Dearest Nellie -
Received your letter this evening just at supper time so will answer right off. I went on duty at noon and will be on duty until noon tomorrow then I will write another letter. am going to write every day now until I find out where I go after Sat., as we leave here then and I don't know where we will go, but oh how I wish I could come home for a few days for I have lots to tell you when I get to see you.
Your package came O.K. and I thank you very much for the Testament. you don't know how much those books are needed down here. you are doing more for me than you have any idea you are. thots of you would keep any man from going wrong and as God is my helper I will come back to you a better boy than when I left. watch and be patient and the time will come when I will once more be at you door to receive my welcome.
No I can't say that any one of the boys is my special friend, but all seem to share the joy of one another and make this life just as enjoyable as possible. no I can't say that I like it down here, but it is not so bad as I expected. when I am on duty I don't have time to get lonesome but when I am not busy and get to studying about you then is when my heart yearns for home.
No I have not been over to see Mrs Klotter yet as I will have to have a pass when I do and I have not been able to get one yet. but after Sat., I am going to try and see her. I thot at first maybe it was some one who wanted to play with me to see if I was fool enough to come but if you say she is O.K. why I will go. I am keeping the letter and will bring it home so that you can see what she wrote. it is a kind invitation, and as she signed her name Minnie Klotter I thot it was a miss so you know why I was shy.
If you want those two pictures keep them for your self as H & A don't care enough about me to want one of them. Alice thot they were good and like to have blowed up when they left Sunday, but Pa did not act like he did when I left the first time, but he worries for fear I will have to go across. but I don't think I will but you can never tell.
Well Mrs Hillig doesn't appreciate a good turn when she gets it as that was once when they did not have to hand out any money. besides your dad fixed their buggy for them, but the more you do for them the more you can do.
It seems hard to be down here but think what it would mean for me to be at home and all the rest gone. it would hurt just as bad then as every one would look on one as a slacker.
The paper today said that the French, British and Yanks were still advancing and that some prisoners they had taken said that Germany would soon have to fall. I don't care how soon I want a stop put to this waste of human lives and property.
It is a great deal cooler here now as it rained all night and all day today and looks favorably for tomorrow.
I don't know whether Pa got home O.K. or not but I expect a letter any time now telling me how they made the trip, but they acted like they were awful tired. they said the road was awful rough altho it only took about four hours to come.
The letter you sent in the paper are good. I am glad that Martin got to be a Seargant [sic] but suppose he will be so big when he comes back that he won't notice we folks.
No I don't have to drill and have not drilled any since I came to this kitchen but I have not forgot all what I learned the first two weeks and will show you what it was when I get home. all I do is what there is to be done in the kitchen. but I would have started to school I would have drilled.
Now when you write don't write if you think I won't get your letter Friday evening or Sat. noon as the Candidates will leave Sat. noon and we will stay and help clean up and I don't want any mail left in the office.
Will quit and go bathe but will write again tomorrow evening.
Yours as ever
with love
Frank
Postmarked Thursday, August 29, 1918.
16 Battery
Officers Training School,
Camp Taylor, Kentucky
Aug 27, 1918
Dearest Nellie -
Received your letter this evening just at supper time so will answer right off. I went on duty at noon and will be on duty until noon tomorrow then I will write another letter. am going to write every day now until I find out where I go after Sat., as we leave here then and I don't know where we will go, but oh how I wish I could come home for a few days for I have lots to tell you when I get to see you.
Your package came O.K. and I thank you very much for the Testament. you don't know how much those books are needed down here. you are doing more for me than you have any idea you are. thots of you would keep any man from going wrong and as God is my helper I will come back to you a better boy than when I left. watch and be patient and the time will come when I will once more be at you door to receive my welcome.
No I can't say that any one of the boys is my special friend, but all seem to share the joy of one another and make this life just as enjoyable as possible. no I can't say that I like it down here, but it is not so bad as I expected. when I am on duty I don't have time to get lonesome but when I am not busy and get to studying about you then is when my heart yearns for home.
No I have not been over to see Mrs Klotter yet as I will have to have a pass when I do and I have not been able to get one yet. but after Sat., I am going to try and see her. I thot at first maybe it was some one who wanted to play with me to see if I was fool enough to come but if you say she is O.K. why I will go. I am keeping the letter and will bring it home so that you can see what she wrote. it is a kind invitation, and as she signed her name Minnie Klotter I thot it was a miss so you know why I was shy.
If you want those two pictures keep them for your self as H & A don't care enough about me to want one of them. Alice thot they were good and like to have blowed up when they left Sunday, but Pa did not act like he did when I left the first time, but he worries for fear I will have to go across. but I don't think I will but you can never tell.
Well Mrs Hillig doesn't appreciate a good turn when she gets it as that was once when they did not have to hand out any money. besides your dad fixed their buggy for them, but the more you do for them the more you can do.
It seems hard to be down here but think what it would mean for me to be at home and all the rest gone. it would hurt just as bad then as every one would look on one as a slacker.
The paper today said that the French, British and Yanks were still advancing and that some prisoners they had taken said that Germany would soon have to fall. I don't care how soon I want a stop put to this waste of human lives and property.
It is a great deal cooler here now as it rained all night and all day today and looks favorably for tomorrow.
I don't know whether Pa got home O.K. or not but I expect a letter any time now telling me how they made the trip, but they acted like they were awful tired. they said the road was awful rough altho it only took about four hours to come.
The letter you sent in the paper are good. I am glad that Martin got to be a Seargant [sic] but suppose he will be so big when he comes back that he won't notice we folks.
No I don't have to drill and have not drilled any since I came to this kitchen but I have not forgot all what I learned the first two weeks and will show you what it was when I get home. all I do is what there is to be done in the kitchen. but I would have started to school I would have drilled.
Now when you write don't write if you think I won't get your letter Friday evening or Sat. noon as the Candidates will leave Sat. noon and we will stay and help clean up and I don't want any mail left in the office.
Will quit and go bathe but will write again tomorrow evening.
Yours as ever
with love
Frank
Citation
Lane, Frank Raymond, “Letter, 27 August 1918 with cover,” The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects, accessed April 19, 2024, https://filsonhistorical.omeka.net/items/show/25.