Letter #2

Letter #2 May 16, 1918 Boulder, Colorado
Address: Training Detachment, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.
Dear Violet,
We arrived here at 3:20 o’clock this afternoon. After marching for about a mile we came to the university. They did not have any quarters prepared for us, so they gave us the gym. Soon after we arrived, they took us to the mess hall and served us up a very good dinner. They served meat, potatoes, gravy, and coffee. The lieut. has just called us all together for a few minutes for a few instructions for the night. Clyde and George are downtown buying some material to write on so they will be back later. We have been given straw ticks and two blankets. We surely had a good time filling our ticks with straw. The wind was blowing and the chaff flew in all direction. Many of them looked as if they had been threshing; some of them were amusing to watch for they seemed they were trying to put candy in a sack and were not in much of a hurry. I do not know the captain’s name yet, but he appears to be a very good fellow and will take great interest in us. He surely gave us a good welcome when we landed and said we appeared to be the best band of young men he had ever seen, for we seemed so jolly, which I think is true. Well, Violet dear it seems to be a different life than I expected, for it seemed like all [the men] smoked. When we arrived, one boy from Ogden was so drunk he could not stand up, so after arriving to our quarters, the captain said ‘after tonight, no more liquor is to be used’ and he had all the suitcases examined and all the wet taken from them. Colorado is a dry state and the liquor was brought from Wyoming. Thanks to God that we are to stay in a city that is dry. The town is a very beautiful one from what I have seen. I am writing on my suitcase so excuse all the mistakes. Tell your Papa and Mamma ‘hello’ and tell them not to feel so bad. The captain said we have the best chance of any men that have been sent out before. We are the only soldiers that are here at Boulder, so we are free from the many things that are present at other camps. One boy lost $61.00 coming on the train. They laid it to the porter. Well, Violet dear, be cheerful, I am, and I will be home to see you again in the near future.
With my heart’s greatest love,
Henry Answer with a big long letter X