|
BACK IN THE U. S. A.
Leonard Dunn comes Home in Hospital Ship This Week
Leonard Dunn, one of the LeMars boys who has been in an army hospital
in France for months, was brought home in a hospital ship a few days
ago and we copy below two letters his father, J. W. Dunn, received from
him this week:
"Just a few lines to let you know that I will be in the states by the
time you receive this letter. I am on the U. S. ship Mercy , a hospital
boat, which is fitted up fine for taking care of the wounded and sick.
We are a couple of days out and I was sea sick but am all right now and
feeling fine. We left St. Nazaire, France, April 6, and expect to be in
New York the 17th, at the rate we are going now. We are taking a
somewhat southern route to avoid the rougher seas they say. The first
few days we thought we were in the northern seas, but now we are going
real smoothly, at times a fellow would hardly think that he was aboard
a ship.
I have a bed with nice sides on to keep a fellow from rolling out on
the deck. The first look at these beds made me think of some cradle
beds I have seen for babies. This room has just fellows in it that
cannot get
up at all and we are having a great time today. Most of us are feeling
better I guess it was because they fed us chicken for dinner, which is
something unusual for a soldier. We have good grub, some of which we
hated to part with at first but now manage to hang on to.
We have a Victrola in this room which we have going most of the time,
if we can get anyone to play it for us. I will write again just as soon
as I get in a hospital in New York, so that you can write to me. We
don't
know just how soon they will send us to a hospital near our homes but
expect they will do so as soon as they can."
U. S. Debarkation Hospital, N. Y.
"Just think I am in God's country again for a change. It sure makes
a fellow feel good. I just had a good bath after getting off the boat.
It was after dinner when I was unloaded although we got into the dock
early in the morning. I saw the Statue of Liberty this time. It sure
looked good. Going over we sailed from Boston so I did not get to see
it, so this morning I had one of the fellows carry me to the port hole
so I could get a good look at her so I could say I had seen her anyway.
Yesterday there was thick fog all day and we very nearly collided with
a couple of boats much to our discomfort; but we finally got in fine
shape.
The Grand Central Palace, U. S. A. Debarkation hospital sure is a grand
palace just as the name indicates. I have a bed next to a window
looking out onto the avenue where there is a lot of stuff on display
for
the Victory loan. From what I have heard so far I will be here at least
a week or ten days, so if you write soon I will get it before I leave
and I am anxious to hear from you all......"
[the text runs off the bottom of the page here...]
-source: LeMars Sentinel Newspaper, LeMars,
Plymouth Co., Iowa; Friday, 25 April 1919
|
