War Diaries (November 29) (nonfiction)
War Diary quotations for November 29
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Diaries
Alfred A. Cunningham: November 29, 1917
Grand Hotel, Paris, France
This is Thanksgiving Day but I have no symptoms of feeling thankful. There are a lot of things I should be thankful for but they do not present themselves. I am thankful that I have a good sweet little wife and that is all that occurs to me. I have been as blue as indigo all day. I had banked on getting some letters today and went to the Embassy full of expectation. There was not a single letter for me.
I could hardly believe it, The censorship is a crying outrage. There are thousands of Americans who, like me, have someone at home they love and a letter from them means everything and still by inefficiency they delay the mail a month. This is a worse hardship than the fighting. When I found I had no mail I lost interest in everything. I intended to go out to the Spad factory but did not. I found that Whiting and the others I know were out of town so I walked around the streets some and read a little. I hate Paris. It is nothing but money grabbing shop keepers, soldiers and women who are so painted and powdered that you are disgusted even by looking at them. From my experience with shop keepers I think the whole French race is two thirds Jew. I will be traveling in the south of France for the next 10 days, so there will be no chance to get a letter until I return to Paris. I don't know how I will stand it. Paris is simply filled with U.S. Army officers who seem to have nothing to do. It is the biggest graft I ever saw. Why don't they send them to the front and make them work.
- Diary of Alfred A. Cunningham (first entry) (PDF) - This diary recounts the experiences and impressions of Captain Alfred Austell Cunningham, the first Marine aviator, during his tour of British and French aviation facilities in November and December 1917.
