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World War 1 letter from Eckhart Vissering

Submitted by Doug Martin - December 31, 2005

The following letter was written by Eckhart Vissering to his mother in Minonk on February 9, 1919. Click here for more on Eckhart's military background. Thanks to Doug Martin who gave us a copy of the letter.

Dear Mother,

We have just sent you three packages and hope you receive them O.K. They contain mostly towels and knit goods which we will have no further use for, and which we would not have room for in our trucks. They also contain a few souvenirs one of which is a German officers's knife. That is my souvenir and be sure to take good care of it for me. Some of the contents of one of the packages belongs to Kirkspatrick so please try to keep things well bound together so that none of his things are lost. You spoke of getting souvenirs. It is not a question of getting them but of getting them home. We are having some French?? fixed up and think we will send them home. I have a German watch and chain we took from German prisoners but I am going to keep it with me. We are afraid it might get lost if I sent it home. Its not an expensive watch but I don't want to lose it.

We haven't heard yet whether we get to go to England but expect to know in a few days. However, the chances for our going is very slim, but I expect to go to Paris in a week ot two to spend a few days and the rest of my money. "The Lamp Dodger" (the paper Folkert use to send you from Camp Dodge) has just come out with an editorial saying we would be ordered home and mustered out in 9 months or so. That would get us in the States sometime in March and probably back in civil life some time in April. But one can't tell anything about it, maybe we will be back by that time and maybe not for 6 months, but we hope it will be soon.

Esther said in her last letter that you thought we would be on our way before her letter reached us so that it wouldn't be any use for her to write but we are still right her in St. Armand and we will be for at least several weeks.

Folkert is writing to Esther and ?? tonight. He is O.K. and like myself is growing fat and lazy. I hardly think either of us has done a days work in the last six weeks.

Your loving son,

Eckhart

P.S. Speaking of souvenirs, this is the best yet. A bunch of G Company men got drunk one night and took a German prisoner away from French guards and took him up in their Billet and dressed him up in an American uniform and said they were going to take him back for a souvenir. E. B.V.