30 NOVEMBER 11, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood resident shared letters from World War I soldier
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
As the nation marks Veterans
Day — established as Armistice
Day, which marked
the end of World War I on Nov. 11,
1918 — we’re looking back this week
on some wartime correspondence
that a longtime Ridgewood resident
received from an enlisted loved one.
In the Jan. 9, 1986 issue of the
Ridgewood Times, we published a
number of letters sent to the paper
by Winifred Beckett Seelig. The
letters were written by her cousin,
Edward G. Kahrs, during World
War I.
He was a private in the U.S. Marine
Corps, enlisting in 1917 at the
age of 16.
The Marine Corps furnished their
recruits with printed stationary on
which were printed various slogans
such as “two-in-one service land and
sea,” “broadening travel,” “out-ofdoor
life,” “good pay.” The stationary
also had printed scenes of Marines
in China, in action firing artillery
on land, and large guns on ships at
sea, and in battle on land.
His fi rst letter was written July 12,
1917 and was sent from the United
States Marine Corps Recruit Depot
at the Marine Barracks at the Navy
Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. But the
other letter, dated June 17, 1918, was
mailed from France, where he was
assigned to the 84th Company in the
6th Regiment, United States Marine
Corp, American Expeditionary Force.
Here’s what Eddie wrote to his father
from the front lines. It’s quite a
revealing look at what an American
soldier had to endure during World
War I:
It sure has been a long time since
we have been allowed to write but
this afternoon though still within
range of the Boche artillery, we are
resting and getting lots of sleep and
hot chow, something we had not
known for 20 days. Haven’t slept
under a roof since last month.
We have been out in the fields and
forests with a poncho and blanket,
cooking our own chow and it sure
is surprising what tasty dishes can
be made from bacon and its grease
using the hard tack.
I suppose you have read a great
deal of our drive. Well, here is the
sum and substance of it: The Boches
were driving the French very hard
and pushing them back. Well, they
rushed us up on the line at the time
when the French were actually in
Ridgewood Times archives
A cross made of trees was erected in Ridgewood in 1919 to honor those
who fought and died in World War I. It would later be replaced by a more
ornate monument at the Ridgewood Veterans Triangle.
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