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Dear Ma, I hope that you are in good health.I am writing this letter from a medical tent, where we have positioned ourselves in ______, I am out of the conflict at the moment, and I am resting, but I cannot make myself forget the events of today, I will take short breaks during my writing for when I cannot go on. What had happened was so horrifying, I feel sick to my stomach writing about it! I am very lucky to have narrowly escaped with my life! Captain Scrimger recommended that I write it all down so that I can
lessen the impact of everything. Despite having known the man for merely a few days, I respect him very much. I think that he should get a medal for bravely showing up to the battle. His first name is Francis, but we like to call him “Flask”, because he is always carrying a few drinks of water around him to give to the injured. The comfort of this tent, surrounded by friendly people, reminds me of how I felt, not even a day ago, until the Germans striked. This was nothing that I had ever expected, nor could I have ever
dreamed about, although I am sure it will appear in my nightmares for ages. I remember everything so clearly, It was extremely tense, we were in ____, and we were holding the line against the germans. The war was going very well, the Germans had not taken the offensive for few months! We were all confident deep down that we would come out of this the victor. _____ decided to take the opportunity to strike up a chat with a few other soldiers, they were talking about rations and how they preferred to eat them, whether from
cutting them into small pieces, or eating fast and washing it down with some water to get rid of the taste. I stayed out of it, I was peeking out of the trenches ever-so-slightly, in case something came up. Something did, in the form of a yellow-green gas. It slowly slid over towards us, as if it was being guided by the wind. I tried to get the attention of the others, but to no avail. I started to step back, but the gas had already come close enough. I was petrified as I watched all of the others crumple to
the floor, screaming at the top of their lungs. I desperately tried to climb my way out of the trench, but I was too slow, the gas overtook me. I cannot describe just how much pain I went through, but I will attempt to describe them. My throat, nose and eyes felt like they were being roasted on an open fire, I could barely breathe, and the Nausea! My eyes started to cloud out, and I was stumbling to a safe spot, by then I was fully surrounded by the gas, I tripped and fell over some barbed wire. Not a
single bone in my body didn't ache, I couldn’t move my legs. I had to crawl until I got lucky and slid into a dugout. I don't know how long I spent hidden there, what with the rats to keep me company, and mud all over my body. Eventually reinforcements arrived, and I thankfully survived. They say the french broke the line and there was over a hundred thousand dead! I wish I was never conscripted, there is no worse place than to be here, nations away from any familiar faces, where I could die any minute. It feels hopeless to
continue, but I’m stuck in the war until it ends. I’m sorry that I wrote to you under these conditions, I'll update you with my recovery. Please send me well wishes and write back when you can. Jakob Hoffman Soldier,
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