Smith, Ansel Brooks, Sr.

English

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ther Deer:-EVA.ClJ.AT IO HOSPITAL 11 2 USA OOBLENZ, GERMANY • T February; 1919. There is surely som& ex:citement in the air over here,for everyone is so worked up over the wonderful nt5W"s that we are go' ng home. SiBce the c.o. read the order to all the officers in the meeting yesterday noon, there has been no doubt about it in the minds of y of ua; and all we are wai.ting for now vrith all the impatience in the world is for our relief to come, and our telegraphic orders telling us to leave for the ~rt. 'Vfe have no idea of oourse as to what port we will sail from. It wtll in all probability be eith~ Brest or St. Naza.ire or maybe Bordeaux, b1.rl:. what do we care what port it is as long as we get away, I have never had the wonderful feeling of satisfaction and relief that I haTe now. It is s imply wonderful to know that in a oertai.n ti.me we w will be on the way home to our families , and I guess you are able to appreo-i~te how we feel about that. I an go.;_ng to cable to you · f the opportunity presents i.tself, but I don't want you to make any attempt, to meet the ship, for I Wi.ll be wi_th the outfit in coLlinand of the men and wi 11 have absolutely no opportunity to be away f or even a short time. It seems to me t.l-J.at it would be a needless waste of ooney for you to oome there and then not be a ble to see me. You oan take the ohn.noe if you Wish Dear. That is up to you. I Wi.ll telegraph you as soon as we land and tell you as soon as I know where we will go for demobilizat1.on, er..d then you oan oome there and we van be together a lot. That seems to me to be the best thi~g to do. Vle will probably go either to Ce.mp Grant; ShernlM. or Cust~r~ although that also is only conjecture. !t is impossible to say a thing d efinite as we do not know ouBselves. 11 we do know is that we are under orders to go home~ and for the pres ent that is a plenty. Tt is the best n~s that I have ovor had -tn all my life, This off-toe is e. busy place now as we are worktng like the dickens "2 getting a l l the service records and other papers in shape, e~d it is a big job. It is nearly 1'-tnished now, and I am glad for it is on that work that depends the length of' time that l"re will spend at the paDt waiting for the ship. I had the plee.sure of' meoting my old friend Dr. Blaokbum or Grand Rq;> ids, who is With the 3 ~2nd rnvision, last n:_ght . He is a little fatter than he was the last time I saw him but other'\"''ise unchanged. He i.s very jeal-ous of' the fiaot that we are ordered home, and wi.shes that he was going home with us . I am not sure that I oo;ncide w~th his dosires in the matter . He had a lot of' scandal about home that have not heard, among other things the fact that Jack Coryell has hurt tho opin ·on of' himself' that people at home entert.ai ned by sobbing too much in his letters home. Have you heard anything to that effect Dear? I kno-vr that he did some of' :.t, but he never di ·more than t.lte ciroum.stanoes warranted; I surmise. I d en 't believe that anyone cf'.n say that :t: have ever done any sobbing . Ih you Dear? That is one thine; that I have always tried to leave out of' :r.w letters home, for I thought that it would only have the effect of' making your w·orries more hard to bear. • m I right?· I understand thc.t General Covell is at homo . When did he get there? It is pretty sort for a lot or those men that were sent home soon after getting here . I hn.vo been here thirteen months today and that · s long enough. I will be glad to leave at anytime tho ship leaves. The 11eather is beautiful here . We will bo embarking about in time to have the equ noctial storms of :March catch us on the ·vm.y hon.e, and I ' ll bet that -rre will have a lot of' sea-3iok :rr.en on board before we get there. I am not much TTorri.ed about myself' ho·aever after the exper. ence I had ooming over . It has been seven days now sinco we have recieved ne3l. It must be due to the fact that our mail is be-tng sent to a poltt now, for it stopped coming on the same date that our orders were sent out. Tlhile it is rather hard not to have the :mail now it will be nice to have t. lot of steamer letters to read af't.er we aaU won 1 t j_ t Deae? I ha.ve noted w~th a great deal of interest the advertising, that "3 Drs . Smith R.R.; and Campbell are doing in the papers at home . It is the mst disgusting thing that I hav e ever seen tor a professional man to do ~ a.nd I am mighty sorry to see that they are doing it . I would not be at all surprised if it wa s ~arth; for that is the sort of t2.1.;_ng that is ezpected of him, but I will admit that the other two are men whom I have always considered above that fo of advertising . I notice that I am mistaken. I only know that a lot of their s tories will not ste.nd repeating if front of some of' us who have seen person-ally some of the things the.t they attempt to dosoribe. Bill Hyland too. His recital w as the most disgusting thing I lavo ever heard. I gues s that that sort of thi.ng "is hunnn nature in the Medical Profession, and that is one of the reasons •rhy Inever want to have any n10r e to d o wtth them f ron1. now on than I have t "-o• I am sore at the Whole bunch; and so is about everybne who has had anything to do wtth the medical oorps oi' the army. This is not a knock, but a plain statenm.e nt of a deplorable .ra.ot. I wi 11 olose r..ow Dearest. I Will wr:tte again tomrrow. I love you. I ce.n hardl;,r wait tfll the sM p pu~l E: away from Frt'lnce with us; and I Will know th.t~. in a week ~r- ·e_I ~11 be with youe Cons i der this meeting me in N.Y. ser:iousl~l ­for I really think it wi_ll be very un:vrise to attempt it. Give Il\Y love to the babies and . Glad, and tell them how en;x:{ous I am to see them. I love yau Dear I love you. Wi t.h all my love and a millj kl kiss es to you all, I am your very u~t/O~(b ~ Ansel B. Smith Captain MC TTS A Evacuation F-ospital 11 2 USA Americe.n E F Gorma.."l.Y• 

Ansel Brooks Smith-Mrs. Marie Smith, February 7, 1919, Coblenz, Germany

https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1308&amp;context=absmithletters

Ansel Brooks Smith-Mrs. Marie Smith, February 7, 1919, Coblenz, Germany

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