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Walter Keller with his five sisters and their mother.
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In
1918, Walter Keller was sent overseas as a part of the American forces during
WWI. While abroad, Walter was a faithful writer to his five sisters, his mother
and his sweetheart. He wrote to each of them unfailingly, describing his
experiences in France.
On November 11, 1918, Armistice Day
brought an end to the Great War and Walter was in France to join in the
celebrations. On November 19tt, he wrote to his sister Lillian
Keller about the experience.
“Dear
Lillian,
I am about recovered from the
Grand Celebration, so I shall make an attempt to answer two of your letters,
one dated Oct. 18, and the other Oct. 23. First I must try to tell you
something about the Victory celebration. I had thot that I had seen some
celebrations before, but this one eclipsed anything I had ever run across.
Champagne flowed like water. Parades of all kinds, some lead by a band, others
by nothing more than a French soldier with a horn, or even a fiddle, or rather
violin, or even an accordion or mouth organ. French men, women, children,
soldiers if all the Allied armies, arms locked across the whole width of the
streets. All street cars stopped early in the afternoon, as it was impossible
to run them. Old men with long whiskers, young children, hardly old enough to
know what it was all about, every one joined in, I kissed, and was kissed by
old be-whiskered men, old women, pretty girls, French soldiers, Belgian
soldiers, and I do not know what else. I came home or rather back to camp after
a while for I gave up all hopes of drinking up all the wine, so do not know how
long it lasted, but I suppose it was all night, for I went back down the next
evening, and it was still going as strong as ever, and lasted even till the
third evening. I wish I could have been in Paris, or some other large place. I
do not know how it was there, but if it was anything proportion, I have an idea
that I must have been wild, for if a little place like this can put on such as
this, I must say that it must have been real in the other places.
We have been having some fine
fall weather, with just a touch of winter, for it has been freezing some real
ice for some time. Today it is warmer, and cloudy, and looks as if it might
rain, I do hope that it will not start to rain again, for I do not like it a
bit. I would rather have cold and clear than warm and raining all the time. I
had almost begun to think that my photos had not reached you, as I had not
heard anything about them, but I see they got there alright. I am rather puffed
up with pride at all the comps I received about my appearance. I started to
raise a moustache several times, thinking to have my picture taken again, but
have never had the heart to do it.
There is little else to write. We
hear a lot of rumors as to what we are to do or not to do, but they are all
just rumors, and not worth bothering ones head about. I do hope that they will
move us to another pace soon, for I am tired of this town and would like a
change. This leaves me well as usual. Give my love to all.”
Thank you to Leona Garrison for sharing this letter,
written from her uncle to her mother. This letter was among the many loaned by
the community to the Geary County Historical Society for the military exhibit Letters Home, which features letters
written from soldiers abroad from the 1880s-1980s. The exhibit will be taken
down on September 21st, so stop in soon to see these fascinating letters. The
museum is open Tuesday-Sunday, 1-4pm. 