A World War I letter from Edwin Lebo dated 3 December 1918 was printed in the Elizabethville Echo, 26 December 1918:
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Verdun, France
December 3, 1918
[To] “THE ECHO“
I am situated in a French Military Camp called “Contonment de Neil”, very close to Thierville and only three kilometers from Verdun. I have a good bunk to sleep on, plenty of clothing and plenty to eat. I get up early in the morning for you probably know that is the custom in the army, and it is a good idea as it keeps a person healthy. We get plenty of corn willy as we call it in the army and some times we have beans for dessert. I am always hungry and can eat anything fit for a human being and believe me when we get pie there isn’t one in the company who is absent. Our Thanksgiving dinner was a dandy and I think we enjoyed it all the more because we were not disturbed by bursting shells.
We have lots of mud in this part of the country. I have traveled over a large part of France and think it a beautiful country but it has nothing on the good old U.S.A. I was in three drives: the Argonne, St. Mihiel and Verdun. I was right in the Argonne forests when about 2400 of our big guns opened fire. The earth shook for miles around and the sky was light up by the flashes of the guns which brought death ad destruction to many. It is claimed that more big guns were used in that drive than any other drive in the war. I was on a supply truck and followed the infantry and it was hot enough for me.
I saw observation balloons, all ablaze, falling to the earth, and the observers descending on their parachutes. I saw Boche aeroplanes swooping down right along our artillery which was in the open. They trained their machine guns right on our artillery boys and that is when I was nearly hit. I saw shells bursting around and dead and wounded being brought in.
I was up in Death Valley on the Verdun front and that is worth seeing, believe me. There are thousands of acres of ground torn up so badly by our shell fire that there is hardly a foot of ground that is left untouched.
The Germans, themselves, claimed that it was impossible for anyone to live anywhere near where our shells fell.
The barrages that we laid were the most effective barrages of any artillery in the world.
There was great excitement over her on the 11th of November at 11 o’clock and I saw them fire the last shell out of a fourteen inch gun, which was close to where we were stationed. They fired the shell about one minute and thirty seconds of 11 o’clock and at eleven o’clock the shell landed at its destination which was thirty five miles away.
The 79th Division received lots of praise, over here for the work they did and I am proud to say that I belonged to that Division. I will tell you all when I get back home. Wishing you and all “ECHO” readers and the citizens of Elizabethville a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I remain
Your friend,
Pvt. EDWIN S. LEBO
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