Letter to Mother from Somewhere in France

6-23-17[sic]
Somewhere in France

Dear Mother:–

Well Mother we have enjoyed our stay at this camp but we are soon going on we do not carry our packs from here up so that will be a treat they use use fine. we carried them in here and for ten days at the bull ring so we could carry them and quite forget we had them.

I have completed my M.gun coarse and am ready for action any day or hour. My next letter will tell you more of the life up the line, which everyone I think nearly everyone wants to see and complete what they enlisted for. think of the boys that are going in carry one two and three wound stripes a man only carries one strip for a dozen wounds if they occur in the same battle.

It is cool for the first of our trip and any way we are going to march nights instead of days, You know how far it is so we can do it easy. The boys have moving pictures every night free in an old barn the band plays. The chaplain holds a good talk and there is tennis inside base ball outside, wrestling, boxing, running all lengths of runs go on each day so no one lacks for amusement, but I prefer to write letters to you all and read my testament and walk and talk with some boys We even have big cherry trees to climb and sit and eat cherrys I never tried it tho the police do not alow it but it is strange how the cherries disapear each day.

Well bye bye Mother dear your loving boy Laurie

[margin] I will write at every opportunity but they may not come often