Dear Mom and Dad,
I would ask how it is back at home, but there is no point because the mail can't get out here. Anyway, I have been fighting in the trenches the past few weeks. It is pretty terrible. There are many problems that go on down hear. There are tons and tons of rats that eat all of our food. We have came to a decision on how to get rid of them. My fellow soldiers and I put some bread inside a little ditch, a bunch of rats go after it. We pour lighter fluid all over it and it cooks the rats. Later we have rat sandwiches on the bread.
One of the scariest things that go on down here are the artillery strikes. Imagine that you are in a lightning storm, and you feel the ground rumbling all of you. Plus, it is a lot louder.
A Canadian soldier with mustard gas burns, ca. 191...
English: Mustard gas (bis(chloroethyl) thioether) ...
English: Mustard gas victimMost of the soldiers are scared to death, but it really doesn't bother me. I feel like I was born to do this. One thing that really scared us all is the German mustard gas. It is yellow gas that creeps its way over the ground. When in touches your skin, it gives 2nd degree burns and makes you suffocate. Well I hope that you all are okay back at home! I cant wait to come back and see you.
Love,
(put in your name)
Poster for Babb's production of Mom and Dad, showi...
bus rat
Mustard gas working
World War One: Life in the Trenches
First, no one not face with eminent starvation would ever try to eat a rat. Given the rat's ability to endure conditions of filth and disease without suffering any adverse consequences, it would be an act of suicide.
Second, the notion that anyone could endure shelling in this war and not be bothered is nonsense. The shelling on the fronts drove men mad, and the ability of an artillery barrage to rip men apart was a horror few forgot.
Finally, what human writes of mustard gas, with its ability to burn soldier's lungs apart, so that they died in burning agony, and in the next sentence closes with "I hope to see you soon."
While a certain innocence is expectable from a seventh grade student, this cavalier attitude strains credence.
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