volunteered to go in the patrol and they was only a few going so I didn't
feel like noseing myself in and maybe crowding somebody out that was set
on going and besides what and the he--ll do I care what regt. is there as
long as its Germans and its like you lived in a flat and the people across
the hall moved out and some people moved in why as long as you knowed they
wasn't friends of yours you wouldn't rush over and ring their door bell and
say who the he--ll are you but you would wait till they had time to get
some cards printed and stick 1 in the mail box. So its like I told Alcock
that when the boys come back they would tell the Col. that the people opp.
us was Germans and the Col. would be supprised because he probably thought
all the wile that they was the Idaho boy scouts or something. But at that I
pretty near made up my mind at the last minute to volunteer just to break
the motley you might say but it was to late and I lost out.

Well Al the boys that went didn't come back and I hope the Col. is
satisfied now because he has lost that many men and he knows just as much
as he did before namely that they's some Germans across the way and either
they killed our whole bunch or took them a prisoner and instead of us
learning who they are they found out who we are because the boys that's
gone is all from our regt. and its just like as if we went over and give
them the information they wanted to save them the trouble of comeing over
here and getting it.

Well it don't make a man feel any happier to think about them poor boys and
god only knows what happened to them if they are prisoners or dead and some
of them was pals of mine to but the worst part of it is that the word will
be sent home that they are missing in actions and their wifes won't know
what become of them if they got any and I can't help from thinking I might
of been with them only for not wanting to crowd somebody out and if I had
of went my name would be in the casuality list as missing in actions but I