Letters & Poetry
A Letter From A Soldier In The Battle Of Verdun
Dear Janice,
I hope all is well with you and the children back home. Right now I am in a six day break from war, I work six days in the war and then I get a six day break. The Germans are trying to eliminate France from the war by taking over the city of Verdun. You see the Germans believe that the French will defend Verdun with all their men and the Germans think that it will be relatively easy to defeat the French troops, they think that the French are too weak to defend their country. The Germans had no idea that French would be so strong. The French leader, General Henri Petain, led his forces into battle and with all their might they fought the Germans.
This was a horrible war, old Jimmy from back home was killed today. A German soldier shot him several times in the head, when Jimmy fell to the ground he was no longer with a head. I also came very close to death, I was fighting with a German soldier and he shot me in the arm. At that point I had lost all feeling in my body and I began to bleed. The blood was running down my leg and I had no way of stopping my arm from bleeding. Then I looked up and the German soldier was aiming his gun at me and was getting ready to end my life, all of the sudden he fell to the ground and began bleeding from his mouth. It turned out that Norman Sidhordiwitz from back home shot him in the small of the back and then in the back of the head. He came over to see if I was alright and I began to vomit all over him and myself. He took out his lighter and burnt my wound, then he wrapped a piece of cloth tightly around my wound and the bleeding wasn’t as bad anymore. I didn’t know how to thank him but in my eyes he will always be a hero.
Yesterday, I received information that the Germans backed down because their casualties were almost as high as that of the French. It would appear that they were wrong about the French troops, the French aren’t as weak as they thought. This is a good lesson to everyone, no person should underestimate the power of another person or anything else for that matter. I believe that you should always expect the worst.
Since this battle is now over I will be able to get some sleep and I will be able to take some time off and get healed. We must sleep in little tents and they are very crowded, there are about twelve people per tent. The nurses here have been very kind to me, if all turns out well I hope that I will be able to show my gratitude by purchasing some beautiful red roses and maybe some dark and creamy chocolate candy for them.
When this war is over I promise you that I will be alive and I will return home in good health. When I return home I will have some very nice presents for the children. I am thinking of getting Mona a cute little teddy bear and I am thinking of getting little Jamie a really nice model of a war tank.
I know that I am a little late but I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. My Christmas over here was filled with mixed emotions, fear and happiness. The horror of Christmas was seeing so many people die before my eyes. The happy part of Christmas was when everyone got their mail and gifts. The soldiers either got a box of fine cigars or a box of chocolates. The soldiers also got their mail from home and sometimes it would come with cookies or some other gifts.
In response to your letter I would think that the war will be over soon but no one human being can tell for sure. I hope that everything will turn out fine but there is not a very good chance of that. No matter what happens I make sure that I will return home safely.
Sincerely,
Simon
A School Link Article. Courtesy of Christopher Tollstam, LCCHS, March 9, 1999 .
