SECOND DIVISION
Puderbach, Germany
Sunday
June 1, 1919
Dear Father and Mother:
Your letter written May 11th reached me in just eighteen days which is pretty good time, considering it is about seven thousand miles from here to home. Glad to hear that Joe got home alright. I am anxiously awaiting the time when I will get home, but don’t suppose it will be before September now that they have delayed signing the peace treaty, and may even keep the troops over here after peace is signed, unless I can manage to get a discharge on the affidavit that I wrote you about. I guess I will be out of luck for a few months yet.
They have made such a mess of the Peace Conference that the men in the Army of Occupation are becoming disgusted. They either want to go home or advance farther into Germany and force the Boche to terms. The Allies have been altogether too easy since the Armistice, if they give the Boche an inch they want a mile. Harsh treatment is the only thing they can understand, and that’s what they would have enforced on us had the victory been the other way. While it is the general opinion that there will not be much fighting should the treaty not be signed, nevertheless it will keep us in Germany for some time to come. As everyone of us now feels a keener interest in our own America, after what we have endured, it is natural that the feeling of homesickness and restlessness would exist.
As far as the present duties of a Soldier are concerned they are very easy. Every afternoon is given over to leisure and play, and with plenty to eat, there is no room to kick on that score.
Please save all the copies of the “Indian” that I send as I would like to look them over in the future and it is much better to mail them to you than try to save them myself and pack them along with me. I am going to deposit $30.00 more with the paymaster this month as I have accumulated a little more than I need to spend and that will bring my deposits up to $190.00.
The fifth of June will be eighteen months since I left the States, which calls for another gold stripe on my left sleeve. Here is hoping I don’t get my fourth. Well, this will be all for this time with love and best wishes your son,
Robert E. Schalles