DIY History | Transcribe | World War I Diaries and Letters | Robert Morriss Browning correspondence to Mabel C. Williams, April-June 1918 | 1918-06-02 Robert M. Browning To Dr. Mabel C. Williams Page 1

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Robert Morriss Browning correspondence to Mabel C. Williams, April-June 1918

1918-06-02 Robert M. Browning To Dr. Mabel C. Williams Page 1

June 2
Dear Miss Williams-
Thank you for the card. I'm ashamed of myself for having underlined my remarks about homesickness.
We've received about seventeen hundred recruits lately and hope we'll get to take them to France in a few weeks. There are enough of them to bring the outfit up to full war strength so that we feel a bit more useful now. The new ones are drafted men from Ohio, Ky., and West Virginia, nearly all Americans. It will be fine to work with men who've been to high school and college. Quite a change from the couple dozen illiterates I had in my English class last winter! Two of the men assigned to "'F' recruit company" are graduates of Indiana Law school, and only tow of the bunch are "Wops."
We go on the range tomorrow for our spring target practice. The first battalion has been firing for the past rainy weeks. Hope it's a bit drier for a while now.
Yesterday I received an official copy of "Paragraph 287 of S.O. 116, W.D. May 17, 1918." which said, in part, "The temporary promotions and assignments of the following named Infantry officers to be first lieutenants, with date of rank as indicated, are announced: ..... Second Lieut. Robert M. Browning, October 26, 1917 ." There were a lot of shavetails made happy by said order, five in our regiment. I'm under the impression that this carries about a hundred fifty dollars back pay but don't know for sure.

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June 2 Dear Miss Williams- Thank you for the card. I'm ashamed of myself for having underlined my remarks about homesickness. We've received about seventeen hundred recruits lately and hope we'll get to take them to France in a few weeks. There are enough of them to bring the outfit up to full war strength so that we feel a bit more useful now. The new ones are drafted men from Ohio, Ky., and West Virginia, nearly all Americans. It will be fine to work with men who've been to high school and college. Quite a change from the couple dozen illiterates I had in my English class last winter! Two of the men assigned to "'F' recruit company" are graduates of Indiana Law school, and only tow of the bunch are "Wops." We go on the range tomorrow for our spring target practice. The first battalion has been firing for the past rainy weeks. Hope it's a bit drier for a while now. Yesterday I received an official copy of "Paragraph 287 of S.O. 116, W.D. May 17, 1918." which said, in part, "The temporary promotions and assignments of the following named Infantry officers to be first lieutenants, with date of rank as indicated, are announced: ..... Second Lieut. Robert M. Browning, October 26, 1917 ." There were a lot of shavetails made happy by said order, five in our regiment. I'm under the impression that this carries about a hundred fifty dollars back pay but don't know for sure.