To: John Watson August, 1916 Hamilton, Ontario From: Roosevelth Buenafe August, 1916

Dear John, Its been long since Ive last seen you, my friend; I hope you are doing well. My days here in the trenches have been a harsh one. Each day I wake up in the morning with the fear of death crawling inside my head. The battle has just been a couple of days and already no mercy has been shown, many of our men have died because of their sniper bullets. It saddens me to think how their families will take it upon hearing the news. Every morning, we are woken up early to guard against dawn raid by the enemy. We would clean our rifle equipment, breakfast would be served next. After breakfast, we would be inspected by a platoon commander. People would then be chosen to do chores like refilling sand bags, repair of duckboards on floor of trenches and draining the trenches. Want to hear the best part? Ive made so many friends with all the rats here in the trenches, I even named them. Theres Tom, Jerry, Larry, Fred, Jimmy. Oh and I forgot to mention Timmy You can see how crazy Im becoming. Anyways back to

reality, my companions are my rifle and bayonet. My rifle has gotten me out of a tough situation and my bayonet is great for close combat. Michelle (Rifle) and Shirley (Bayonet) are my deadly two. Again if youre wondering why I named them, its because Im on the verge on falling to insanity. Each night of every day, the constant sound of gunfire and screams has always kept me wide awake and the bright color of red splattering all over me has darkened my heart. I can barely sleep and I cant rest knowing that theres a bullet of the Grim Reaper waiting to pierce through my soul and rip me from this bloodbath we call war. Anyways, it had been a couple of days since the battle of Somme and already it has been a massacre. Piles of dead bodies of our men can be spotted here from our side. Our plan was to destroy their barb wires in order to win and make them retreat, however, the calculations were incorrect and so my comrades bravely walked to the other side thinking that the enemy would retreat. Little did they know that we were unable to destroy the enemy lines, thus a sudden change took over my comrades and they decided to charge to the opening of the enemys barriers but, due to the sudden attack and lack of strategy, my comrades fell to their knees with thousands of bullets on their chest. The sight was unbearable, my comrades didnt stand a chance, and they ran into a death hole where escape was out of the question. My heart sank to the bottom of my soul knowing that I couldnt do anything but stand and watch Jack The Ripper strike once again. The battle still stands as of now and Im afraid my dear friend, that Ill put you in more danger if I tell you more but know this, I dont regret serving in the military. To know that such an event like this

could ever exist in our world.. Its unforgivable! I never imagine something so horrible could possibly occur. So call me stupid but Im going to serve our country till the bit of my blood drops to the ground. Im going to defend our country no matter what. Thats why I joined the military. Take care of your family as well as yourself John. Well meet again. If not in this world, then maybe in a different world; a world full of peace and joy. Sincerely, Your good friend, Roosevelth Buenafe

Ps: Take care my dear friend, I can only hope to see you once again and for this war to finally end.