WWI Letters-Matejousky, Frank

Lyman County, South Dakota  Genealogy

 Military Letters, WWI

As found in old newsletters.
Transcribed by barbara stallman-speck

            Updated    Friday, March 05, 2010   

       WWII letters

From Frank Matejousky

Army and Navy Young Men’s Christian Assoc. “With the Colors”
Newport News, Va.

July 26, 1918

Dear friend DeWitt,

   Having a few moments to spare I thought of you and realized I have not answered your letters.

   Well old scout, I’m still in old Virginia at the same place. The 3rd of August I will be here three months and I’m getting tired of this camp.

   We got our physical examination Sunday to see how many of us are fit to go across.

    I am still at my job as overseer of the grading. We have three graders and a plow going all of the time. We are grading corrals so the horses and mules don’t have to stand in water as it rains quite a bit down here.

    We have something like 12,000 horses and mules here and you can imagine how much feed we use. They have 120 one-horse carts that do nothing but haul manure, beside team wagons. There are 60 wagons. Forty team do nothing but feed all day long.

    Say DeWitt, it sure does a man good to stay in one of these camps and see the work that is accomplished in a short time. Most of the heavy work is done by Negro troops. The white troops do the driving and such as that and the non-commissioned officers don’t do anything but overlook the work.

    Well DeWitt, things keep moving here all the time.   Next line unable to read

Over 200,000 troops have gone through this camp since I came here, besides guns, carts ammunition and trucks.

    You know, this is one of the biggest embarkation depots in the United States. We are going to start shipping horses and mules in August, and they expect to ship about 10,000 head so I think we will be pretty busy loading, which means day and night work ‘til they are loaded.

    Well, I think I will close as it is getting for lights to go out. Say hello to all the boys at the lodge for me. There are lots of  I.O.O.F. fellows here – four of us in this barrack. Well good-bye and write soon.

Your Friend,
Frank C. Matejouskey
Q M C  Camp Hill, A.E.D.
Co. 301 Newport News, Virginia