March 19, 1918.

Dear Marie,

We sure are getting the warm weather here. The robins, bluebirds and
meadowlarks are all over. We go on short hikes every day now, mostly to
break in our field shoes, of which each man has two pair. These shoes
are of rough unfinished leather, and have soles a half an inch thick,
studded with round headed hob nails. The heels have a miniature
horseshoe instead of the ordinary heel plate. All in all the field shoe
is some boat. On the south side of the Fort is the Leavenworth nigger
town. It is full of bootleggers and some of the signal men have been
getting booze there. One night four Co. “C-6” F.B.A. men got mixed up in
a fight in which they killed a nigger. A young riot resulted and in a
short time twenty more Co. C-6 men and a commissioned officer, all armed
with Colt’s .45 auto pistols waded in and cleaned up the district. They
kept a guard of S.C. men there for a couple days and now no Fort men are
allowed within specified boundary of “coon town.” It sure is a good
thing even tho it cost one nigger’s life to prove it.

We are getting all kinds of guard duty now. The most tiresome I have had
yet, was guarding a barracks of quarantined men. Scarlet fever, mumps
and measles seems to have a hold on a number of the recruits just
shipped in. The day I was on duty it was ordered to shoot the loose dogs
so that they wouldn’t be disease carriers. I got the twelfth and last
one during the evening. The Colt .45 sure has a push in it that won’t
allow any argument. It is much easier to shoot than the .25 as it is
easier to hold, and has the sights nearly three times as far apart.

Another guard we get is at the Leavenworth City terminal bridge. This is
the only bridge crossing the Missouri River near here and is used by
troop trains. Each end is guarded and no vehicles or persons with
packages are allowed to cross without first being searched for
explosives. I went on guard Sunday afternoon at 4:00 o’clock. Each man
has two hours on and four off so I had 4-6 and 10-12 P:M on the Kansas
end of the bridge. It was pretty lively between 10-11 Sunday night.
There was a steady stream of autos during this hour leaving the City for
small towns in Missouri. Believe me it was a lot of fun to make the
pretty girls step around while looking for “all kinds of explosives,”
according to our orders. At 11 P:M a man was hit by a train about a 100
yards from my post. His limbs were badly mangled and his skull was
fractured. He died in the ambulance.

At 4:00 P:M Mon. the “A”-Co. radio tractor came around with the new
guard and took us back to the Fort.

Nearly every afternoon the Sixth field Battalion has a big parade at
4:30-5:00 P:M. We are the only Signal Corps Batl’n to have its own band
and it sure is a band, too. This afternoon we passed in review before
Colonel Allison.

Before we pass in review, we form a Battalion front and then the buglers
play “Retreat.” At the last note of this, the Major calls the B’n from
“parade rest” to “attention” and we all salute individually when the
band plays the “Star Spangled Banner.” Then the Major commands,
“Battalion pass in review, squads right, -- Ho,” and the parade is
started.

Great stuff ain’t it. Well anyway it fills a fellow with a good healthy
feeling that he is doing his bit in Uncle Sam’s uniform. I will always
be thankful that I shook loose of Beloit at just the right time even
though I am pretty sure of being in service for at least a year or two
ahead. Did you and Lou and Mother get my cards O.K.?

Tell Mother my express package has not been taken from the “Y” yet.

With love,

Forrest.