Newspaper Cassville Republican
Date Thursday, Feb. 20, 1919
Headline (WW I Letter) - "Dan Gemmecke Writes"
Text Dan Gemmecke, youngest son of Mrs. and Mrs. G. H. Gemmecke of near Seligman, who is in the military service in France, writes the following letter to his former schoolmate, neighbor and friend, Miss Dema Tankersley of Seligman and through the kindness of Miss Tankersley, the REPUBLICAN has the letter for publication:

Leffole Le Grand, Dec. 26, 1918

Friend Dema: Well, I have been somewhat slow about writing on the account of working such long hours and unable to get any place where there was writing material to be had.

I have been working through some very interesting country. I have been through the city of St. Mihiel and country north to Verdun.

The city of St. Mihiel is sure badly shot up and the country in general is badly damaged with trenches, dugouts and barb wire entanglements.

The city of Verdun has been shelled every since the starting of the war. There are quite a number of French forts on hills lying above Verdun where the hardest fought battles of the war raged and where the dead bodies were buried by shrapnel explosions, which have blown in every square inch of the earth into holes and heaps. In this section there are lots of shells and all sizes which have never exploded but are just as dangerous as they were never fired.

I had a nice little visit in Metz about a month ago. Made a trip up in that part of the country. Metz is the smelliest city that I have seen since in France.

Well, we are having lots of rain and the mud is sure deep. Has been raining every day in the month and snowing some along with it.

From all accounts in the papers the flu has done lots of damage in the states. There hasn't been very many lost over here with it but there has been quite a number of cases.

Well, we are still in France and are likely to be here for awhile yet. They are sending some home out of our company but I know that I won't be one.

I hope you had a Merry Xmas and I wish you a happy New Year. Will close with best wishes.

Dan Gemmecke, Co. 69 Train Corps
Resource State Historical Society of MO Microfilm
Submitted by Donna Cooper