France
Dec 8/16

Dear Mother

Your letter was a dandy newesie one my things are up in everything on the market sorry you have been put in with the children so much but they are the best little ones on earth hope I can do something to help them on in the years to come we have a big man over here who is a kind one so I have here I will try and get a letter on his desk some way which may give me a change or a chance hope and pray I may be out of it by spring at least I here young Gillen is sailing for home soon he is in England now he stayed at Harvre then went back he was worring quite a lot I suppose he will tell I smoked a little, but he could see I did not like it or no how he happened to go in when Ashton was their he new his brother

so he told the MO to mark him T.B. I wish I could be lucky a fellow told me ge herd he was sailing on the next boat I saw a couple of letters in the P.O. one day Joe and I got off to look over the mail I got two from you and Mary Geo. does not write often enough I suppose he thinks like all of us fellows do stores to let in the uper storey I wish Mary would say if she has been getting every months money I have asked often she needs it for everything, I hope this is not the last letter I ever write but it is getting thicker I was looking up one night a red hot pill was coming right in front of me and coming down seemed to change and tuck stright down and droped in front of me about ten yards instead of coming over on to me you can see them go on the side of you alright but when they come in stright for you can not tell if. they will go on front or back of you I think have been

taken care of by a higher power may it be so all the way through I am trying to grow and be a gard on my self and a small help to some one but have been very slow all through life but will try and not be so slow from now on I was telling the boys about a fellow falling by cursing heaven, little things like that makes them see there is something after this world it seems selfish to want anything in the next when one has been so slow in this that is what I here some say around here but the boys mostly all think about God here I tell you if they do say bad words well bye bye love all big and little

Roy

[Editor’s note: It’s unclear if a dot code was used by Gullen in this letter. Characters that may have been been intentionally marked in the written message with dots underneath them have been marked in the transcription with an underline. Written together they spell “nkstsssdi” (intent unknown).]