2ème Régiment Étranger,
Bon C. 1ère Cie.,
Feb. 16, 1915.
Dear Paul:
I would have written you earlier but I have been either too busy, too disgusted, or too uncomfortable.
The last four days we have been at a reserve post, the first since you left, and they were four miserable days. It rained or snowed the whole time. We worked three hours in the morning, four in the afternoon, and three each night; and our trenches were leaking water from the top, and water was seeping in at the bottom.
Nilson said that Hadley was still in the hospital. As you say, Nilson is a good lad, but he is a nuisance here and we do not expect him to last long.
I have just found out that the vaguemestre here has forwarded quite a bunch of our mail to the depot at Orleans, also whatever packages had come for us.
The Americans here now are Capdeville, Zinn, Dowd, Seeger, Trinkard, King, Phelizot and Chatkoff. Morlae is also here. He just came back, after studying a few weeks in a corporal’s school. He is now the sergeant in charge of this section and a bigger —— than ever. He takes every opportunity to insult the Americans in front of superior officers, so as to try and curry favor with them. He and I are always at swords’ points and I have told him that some day we will both be back in America. The first thing I shall do when we are back there is to beat hell out of him. None of us has any use for him. But you know how it is in the French army. A sergeant has it over a private. I have even been thinking of changing my company because I might really lose my temper some time and kill the blackguard, and you know what that would mean for me. I want you to keep this letter in regard to Morlae and if by any chance I do not get back to the United States, and he tries to get a lot of cheap notoriety over there, like he is after, this is what the Americans think of him.
The new corporal of the Ninth Squad is a Boer, who fought through the Boer War and lost his father, brothers and sisters in it. He has been in the Legion for ten years, and his time is up March ist. Then he will probably go back to his own country and fight against England. He is a soldier and a gentleman, and would probably be a captain now if he had his just deserts. Just what are the chances of another regiment for me; if not a regular French Régiment , the First Étranger?
With love,
Kiffin.