Dear Loved Ones back at home,

It is me, your son, Scotty.

Today’s date is August 23, 1981. I wanted to write you this letter to give you an idea of what my

day-to-day life is over here in France right now. my voyage on the ship from America to France

was just a sneak peek of how bad this war is going to be once I arrive. There were so many men

on the ship. I had to sleep on the top of a three-person bunk bed. There is no room for any of my

bags on the floor, so I keep them in my twin size bed with me while I sleep. Both of the men who

slept below me in the bunks got horribly seasick. Honestly that’s not the worst part. The worst

part was only being able to come on deck once a day for a little bit of sunlight. once we finally

arrived in France, we were taught all about trench warfare. Instructors did all they could to teach

us, but nothing could have properly prepared us for the horrible conditions we are about to arrive

in. The trenches we moved into had about a foot of water in it at all times. The trenches are about

8 feet deep and 45 feet wide. In the morning we will reinforce the trenches with sandbags as

much as possible. these conditions to fight in truly drag us down. The entire front is covered with

row after row of barbed wire to prevent enemies from running in, we call this the no man’s land.

honestly, I haven’t seen a single enemy in my days being in the trenches. It feels like my job is

just to repair any damages in the trenches. another job of mine is hauling food and water to the

front line. The worst part of all of that is on the way back to my trench, my job is to carry

wounded man back with me. I unfortunately have had a few die along the way. my trench is

completely overrun by rats. They destroy everything. They have gotten into food and spread

diseases through my trench from people who have eaten the food after the rats. I miss your

cooking mom. I obviously wasn’t expecting the food to be anything like yours, but I would much

rather eat dirt. The food is always cold. Sadly, there have been days and food has not been
delivered to our trench, which means we don’t eat, and that also means that the men in the front

trenches won’t get food either. The bread is always stale or moldy, but we eat it anyways. The

coffee also is the worst because it is instant coffee. One of the soldiers gave me his piece of

chocolate for my 19th birthday. We shared it together in the driest part of the trench we could

find. There’s no way to really settle in here. So many men are sick here, even men who haven’t

even seen the battle yet. I am constantly dirty, constantly wet, and constantly hungry. When

making my rounds to drop off food to the front trenches, I have seen so many dead bodies. I try

not to look at them. I am afraid I might recognize somebody. I hate it here, but I am doing my

best to survive and fight for my country. I cannot wait to be home with you in North Carolina. I

miss you my family. I love you all dearly. Please pray for me.

Sincerely your son,

Scotty Jenson