My Dearest Nancy, I am writing to you from the trenches in my “dug-out”. It is cold and wet. Winter has not been kind to us out on the Western Front. Many of our chaps have gotten what they call “trench foot”. A nasty disease where your feet turn blue and swell up – even go numb. It’s what you get from standing in damp, wet, muddy trenches all day and all night. It’s been rough. I went to the doctor the other day for a cut I got on my ankle a couple of weeks ago. Doc said it was septic poisoning and sent me to the hospital. It’s my birthday today, twenty-four, coming on a bit. You never know where you’ll be from one year to another. I’m holding on to the hope that I’ll be able to spend my next birthday with you, my dear Nancy. I’m losing
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Directly in front of our battalion (regiment?) there were one or two German battalions (regiments?). On our right was a _______ of Prussian Guards and on our left a Saxon _______. On Christmas morning, some of our fellows shouted across to them saying that if they would not fire, our chaps would meet them halfway between the trenches and spend Christmas Day as friends. They consented to do so. Our chaps went out at once, and when in the open the Prussians fired on them, killing two and wounding many more. The Saxons, who behaved like gentlemen, threatened the Prussians if they did the same trick again. After a few minutes of an eerie silence – around 10 o’clock – we heard yelling from the German trenches. “Good morning,” they …show more content…
He looked me up and down, gave me six cigars, some chocolate and shook my hand. We talked for a while, walking around No Man’s Land. I found out that his name Stefan Jünger. He had 3 kids and a wife at home. He joined the army because of the good pay. He hasn’t killed a man in battle yet and he doesn’t want to. He prays for the lost lives every night, whether they were from his side or the enemy’s. He was truly a good man, Nancy. You would’ve liked him. Suddenly, one of our men came out with a football, kicking already and making fun. We quickly sorted ourselves into teams for a football match. We marked the goals with our caps. The Germans beat us in the end with a score of 3-2. At the end of the night, we all returned to our respective trenches and I got a change to talk to my comrades about meeting Germans – even forming friendships. My informant, one of the men, said he’d had a fine day and had “smoked a cigar with the best shot in the German army, not more than 18 years old. They say he’s killed more of our men than any other 12 together, but I know now where he shoots from and I hope to take him down once the truce is over.” I was struck with the sudden realization that this truce would be over soon. This truce had been a little peaceful paradise in the ongoing war. It distracted me long enough to feel calm again, even happy. I don’t want to go back to war. I don’t want to kill any more Germans. I don’t want to kill Stefan. They have
Directly in front of our battalion (regiment?) there were one or two German battalions (regiments?). On our right was a _______ of Prussian Guards and on our left a Saxon _______. On Christmas morning, some of our fellows shouted across to them saying that if they would not fire, our chaps would meet them halfway between the trenches and spend Christmas Day as friends. They consented to do so. Our chaps went out at once, and when in the open the Prussians fired on them, killing two and wounding many more. The Saxons, who behaved like gentlemen, threatened the Prussians if they did the same trick again. After a few minutes of an eerie silence – around 10 o’clock – we heard yelling from the German trenches. “Good morning,” they …show more content…
He looked me up and down, gave me six cigars, some chocolate and shook my hand. We talked for a while, walking around No Man’s Land. I found out that his name Stefan Jünger. He had 3 kids and a wife at home. He joined the army because of the good pay. He hasn’t killed a man in battle yet and he doesn’t want to. He prays for the lost lives every night, whether they were from his side or the enemy’s. He was truly a good man, Nancy. You would’ve liked him. Suddenly, one of our men came out with a football, kicking already and making fun. We quickly sorted ourselves into teams for a football match. We marked the goals with our caps. The Germans beat us in the end with a score of 3-2. At the end of the night, we all returned to our respective trenches and I got a change to talk to my comrades about meeting Germans – even forming friendships. My informant, one of the men, said he’d had a fine day and had “smoked a cigar with the best shot in the German army, not more than 18 years old. They say he’s killed more of our men than any other 12 together, but I know now where he shoots from and I hope to take him down once the truce is over.” I was struck with the sudden realization that this truce would be over soon. This truce had been a little peaceful paradise in the ongoing war. It distracted me long enough to feel calm again, even happy. I don’t want to go back to war. I don’t want to kill any more Germans. I don’t want to kill Stefan. They have