Clifford H. Peterson was a small-town grocer who lived in Edgerton. He was 26 years old in August of 1918 when he joined the United States Army and went to Europe to fight in World War I. He kept a journal that gave many details of his time in the service. He was wounded during battle and wrote home to his father, Iver, about his experiences.  He sent letters and postcards. The details of his handwritten journal can be read at the Edgerton Museum. His letter home to his father around Thanksgiving 1918 details his service and subsequent wounding during battle.

Dear father: – November 24th is the date set for the U.S. boys to write “Dads Xmas Victory Letter” and so here goes – Of course you must not expect much of a letter from me, as you know it is pretty awkward for me writing with my right hand. I have written you quite a number of letters, but of course I don’t know whether you got them all or not. The last news I had from you was your letter of July 12, which is over 4 months ago. I hope that everything is O.K. at home. I will give you a brief sketch of my European tour.

We sailed from Hoboken, N. J., in the “Lenape” on July 18th. Our convoy had 15 ships. And we arrived in the harbor of Brest on July 30th, and landed the 31st. We went out to Pontanazen barracks and stayed there until August 3rd, and then left in French stock cars, and passed through the cities of Rennes and Tours and detrained at St. Aignan late in the evening of August 4th. Here we went through a classification camp, and left there August 11, and passed through the cities of Vierzon and La Cruesot, and detrained at Meuse on August 13th. Was then taken by truck out to the village of Avrecourt, where my old company, Co.M., 362nd Inf., was in training. 

My company came through England. They landed at Liverpool and shipped again from South Hampton. My company was right in the midst of their training when I arrived, and the first week or so was pretty tough on me as my feet and ankles were giving me lots of trouble. But, all at once I seemed to get hardened into it, and could hike with the best of them. 
It was hike, hike, rifle shooting, throwing live hand grenades, bayonet drills, gas mask drills, shooting automatic rifles, problems in trench and open warfare, etc., etc. We would get up at 5:45 A.M. and be on the road by 8, and we took our lunch with us and stayed out until supper time, and then many nights we went out again after supper and we got back in at midnight.

We hiked over 40 miles in three days (August 31st, September 1 and 2) and all on stone roads with heavy packs and rifle, steel helmet, and our lunches. 

On September 1st we started out with the whole division on a four day hike and we went 15 miles and then put up our pup tents, and then that night we got orders to get ready to go to the front. So, the next morning we hiked back those 15 miles. On the night of September 5th we left Avrecourt in trucks and went to Chaundailly and arrived there 3:30 in the morning and the boys laid down on the ground in a heavy rain and went to sleep. 

Our company and company L were detailed to load out the 361st and 362nd Regiments on trains there. We worked day times and Co. L worked nights. We suspected at the time we were going to Italy. 

We detrained at Houdelaincourt on September 8th, and went into barracks there. We left there for the front on the evening of September 10th, in a heavy rain, and hiked 15 miles into some woods. A lot of boys fell out that night and I believe that was one of the hardest hikes I ever made. I was carrying a pouch of automatic ammunition besides my other equipment. 

On September 11th we hiked to another woods, and that night we heard the big guns start the St. Mihiel drive, and we were there as the reserves. But, this drive was a complete surprise on the Huns, and was duck soup for the Yanks, so we did not get into the fight. We had to travel nights and hid in the daytime. Airships were nearly as thick as birds. I counted 24 of them in sight at one time.