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About Letters From My Soldier Friend
Corporal Allen Ray Watson, Company L, 115th Infantry, was killed in action on October 15, 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France. He suffered a wound to his heel shortly after "going over the top." He dressed his wound and refused transport. He was walking back to the first aid station when he was killed instantly by a German shell burst. He was buried initially in France. His body was returned home in October 1921, and buried with full military honors in Accomack County. A native of Locustville, Virginia, he had moved to Pocomoke, Maryland with his family in 1915. Within a month after the US entered World War I, he responded to the call to arms and enlisted in the Maryland National Guard at Crisfield, Maryland. He wrote letters to family members and to his girl friend from the time of his enlistment until late September 1918. The letters he wrote to his mother and brother have been treasured by his family for 100 years now. Family members knew his girl friend was named Mary Killmon, and that by the Fall of 1918 she was Allen's fiancée. We knew that after the war she had married, raised a family in Accomack County, and died there in 1982. In 2017, we learned that Mary had kept the letters he wrote to her, and those letters had been passed down two generations to two of her granddaughters. They, in turn, wanted to give them to Allen's family, which led to this book. This book covers Allen's life from May 1917 to his death as told in his letters. Part One features the letters he wrote to Mary, letters which appear very similar to those he wrote to his mother and brother except that he included mirror writing and coded messages in his letters to Mary to express his romantic feelings. This part also addresses what happened to Allen's family and to Mary after his death. Part Two interlaces Allen's description of life in the 115th Infantry with an account written in 1920 by two chaplains of the 115th entitled "115th Infantry, USA in the World War." The lead author of this account, Chaplain F. C. Reynolds, was the person who found Allen's body on the battle field and who buried him in France. Chaplain Reynolds' letter to Allen's parents is included. The Appendices include transcritpions of all of the letters Allen wrote, provided in date order.
