My grandfather Pvt. Frank Gustaf Severin Erickson wrote this letter from "Somewhere in France" on September 24th, 1918 in Swedish to his mother Christine Brita (Olson) and father Anders Alfred Erickson at the family farm in Regan, near Wilton, North Dakota.

Translated from Swedish:

September 24th, 1918

Somewhere in France

Dear Parents,
I am writing a few lines to let you know that I am alive and well and I wish you the same. I do not have time to write a long letter this time. It could be a long time before I can write again.

I got the letter that you sent me a few days ago and one from Abbie. But I have not heard from Ernest or Sebran. Hoping to hear from them soon.

You can now hear the canons thunder at night and day. Next time I write I may be able to tell you what it is like to be in the war.

Dear greetings to you all
from your son Frank G. S. Erickson.
Company H - 308th Infantry
American Expeditionary Force

P.S. my serial number is 3143116.
Do not forget the number.

At the top of the letter Frank wrote "Somewhere in France," and at the bottom he writes, "Do not forget the number." In both regards he tries to tell his folks where he is, even though he could not really tell where, that he was okay and finally in case something happens to him, for them to remember his AEF serial number.

September 24th was just two days before Frank would find himself along with his Company C in the midst of the Battle of the Argonne Forest, in what was referred to as "The Meuse - Argonne Offensive." The offensive was fought from September 26th 1918, until the Armistice on the the 11th of November of 1918, a total of 47 days. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers and was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which eventually would bring an end to the war.

The battle cost 28,000 German lives and 26,277 American lives, making it the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), which was commanded by General John J. Pershing.

Frank wrote many letters and postcards back home to his folks in Dakota over the years 1910 through 1919 when he was traveling and living out west and when he joined the American Expeditionary Force in late Spring of 1917 and through out his days in France and home again in 1919.

Many of his writings were in his native language of Swedish and this is the first of many that are being translated from Swedish to English.

In these two sentences from the letter, Frank was surely unwittingly writing just a glimpse of what he was about to head into. Seven days later he would find himself along with the 308th Infantry in a treacherous situation. Frank was a runner /rifleman for Captain William J. Cullens and he would begin a journey into what would become legendary. Two weeks later Frank would emerge from the Argonne as a surviving member of "The Lost Battalion."

"You can now hear the canons thunder at night and day. Next time I write I may be able to tell you what it is like to be in the war."