Cpl. Louis G. Chouinard

Document

Notes:

This dormitory pass places Louis Chouinard in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 2, 1918, likely during a training or transit phase early in his military service. The reference to “1st M.S.T.C.T.” suggests he was already connected to a motorized supply or transport unit, which aligns with later evidence tying him to the 439th Supply Train. Taken together, this small, utilitarian slip hints at his role within the logistical backbone of the Army and marks one of the earliest points we can trace in his wartime journey—before the overseas movement and travels he would later describe in his letters.

Transcript

JACKSONVILLE COMMISSION
ON TRAINING CAMP ACTIVITIES
ENLISTED MEN’S CLUB
30 WEST BAY STREET

Jacksonville, Fla. MAR 2 1918

This check entitles the Bearer to use of Cot No. 226 to-night.
DORMITORY OPEN FOR USE AT 11 P.M. FRONT DOOR WILL BE CLOSED AT 12:30 A.M.

Bearer will sign below for the following articles of bedding:
One Pair Blankets
One Pillow Case
One Pair Sheets
One Nightshirt
One Towel

When you are ready to leave in morning bring the above-named articles, folded separately, to man in charge at counter on third floor and this receipt will be returned.

GOOD ONLY FOR NIGHT OF DATE OF ISSUE

(Sign name here)
Louis G. Chouinard
Company No. 1st M.S.T.C.T.

The Drew Press 329411

Document

Notes:

This memorandum, dated May 14, 1918, places Louis within the American Expeditionary Forces’ Service of Supply at a time when logistics and labor were just as critical as combat. Issued on fragile, tissue-like paper—likely intended for wide, temporary distribution rather than long-term preservation—it underscores how expendable such documents were meant to be. Its survival is remarkable. The content itself reinforces Louis’s likely role in a supply or labor unit, emphasizing the reassignment of combat troops to manual work and the importance of efficiency, discipline, and continuity in such duties. Together with earlier and later pieces, it strengthens the picture of Louis as part of the Army’s essential logistical backbone during the war’s buildup in 1918.

Transcript

HEADQUARTERS
ADVANCE SECTION SERVICE OF SUPPLY
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

14 May 1918

Memorandum
No. 57

The following letter from H.S. O.S., dated May 10th, 1918 is quoted for the information and compliance of all concerned.

“1” The exigencies of War frequently necessitate the temporary assignment of combat troops to labor duties. Officers and men so employed should bear in mind that the faithful performance of such duty is essential to our success in the field. Morale and discipline may be instilled in troops by doing such work energetically and efficiently, whereas indifferent and slip shod methods produce effects detrimental, not only to the work in hand, but to the subsequent fighting efficiency of the command.

“2” Troops assigned to labor duty will devote their available strength and all of their time and energy to the work. To this end, drill and other military instructions will be suspended, and as few men as practicable reserved for purely military and administrative function. The Post Commandant will determine the number of officers and men necessary for guard duty and regimental, battalion and company administration.

“3” Unnecessary changes in the personnel of details employed on any particular task will be avoided. As far as practicable the same men will be employed daily on the same task from the time it is begun until it is completed. To avoid the loss of time incident to instructing new details, and to secure advantage of the knowledge and experience gained by men who have already been employed on any particular work, Engineer Officers and the headquarters of combat organizations on labor duty will co-operate in making out and filling requests for working parties.

“4” Troops will work under their own officers and non-commissioned officers who will be held responsible for the result obtained. If a detail is as large as a platoon it will be reported by a commissioned officer; if smaller, by a non-commissioned officer. The Commander of each detail will be furnished with a copy of the orders for that party. These orders will contain information as to where and to whom he is to report. Officers and non-commissioned officers will remain on the work with their men. They will maintain discipline, secure the utmost industry and efficiency and see that the work is carried out in accordance with the instructions given by the Engineer Officer in charge.”

By Command of Brigadier General Sample

G. T. PERKINS
Adjutant General
Adjutant

Document

Notes:

This temporary pass, issued by Company F, Army Supply Train and dated May 18, 1918, at Thesée, France, grants Corporal Louis G. Chouinard permission to be absent from duty from noon until 9:00 PM the same day.

Signed by 2nd Lt. F. R. Garner, Jr., the commanding officer, and countersigned by a captain in the U.S. National Guard Division, the document reflects routine military administration—but also something more personal: a rare pocket of time carved out of a tightly controlled schedule.

At this point in the timeline, Louis had only recently arrived in France. Unlike his later leave to Paris, this is not a multi-day excursion but a brief, same-day pass—likely spent in or near Thesée, a small town far removed from the grandeur of Paris or Versailles.

Document

Notes:

Joyeux Noël

This printed Christmas 1918 menu and roll call from Company F, First Army Supply Train, A.E.F., places Louis in Toul, France, at the Caserne Jeanne d’Arc just over a month after the Armistice.

The menu presents a carefully composed holiday meal:
roast turkey, giblet sauce, sage dressing, mashed potatoes, creamed peas, followed by plum pudding with brandy sauce, fruit, nuts, and coffee. It reads like a traditional American Christmas dinner—deliberately familiar, likely intended to bring a sense of home to soldiers still overseas.

Opposite the menu is a full company roll call, listing officers and enlisted men along with their home addresses. Among them is Cpl. Louis G. Chouinard, Fall River, Massachusetts, anchoring him firmly within this unit at this moment in time.

Printed in France (“Imprimeries Réunies de Nancy”), the piece reflects both military organization and an effort to create meaning and morale in the aftermath of war. The inclusion of every man’s name transforms the document from a simple menu into something closer to a commemorative record—a snapshot of a company intact at the end of the conflict.

Document

Notes:

Dated April 3, 1919, this Second Army order places Louis firmly in the post-Armistice phase of the war, when the American Expeditionary Forces had shifted from combat to occupation and demobilization. The document grants him—and a select group of enlisted men—a three-day leave to visit Paris, effective April 7, with arrival on April 8. His unit, the 439th Supply Train, appears again, reinforcing his role in logistical operations. The inclusion of ration commutation pay (sixty cents per day) highlights the administrative detail behind even brief leave periods. Notably, the French phrase “permissionnaire” and reduced fare reference suggest coordination with French systems, reflecting the semi-integrated Allied presence. Taken together, this piece captures a transitional moment: Louis is no longer in the urgency of wartime labor, but not yet home—standing instead at that strange threshold where soldiers briefly step out of uniform life and into the bright, complicated afterglow of war, with Paris as their backdrop.

Transcript

HEADQUARTERS SECOND ARMY
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

April 3, 1919.

SPECIAL ORDERS )
No. 93 )

Extract

x x x x x

Par. 1. Under the authority contained in letter of instructions from G.H.Q., A.E.F., January 19, 1919 (9113-A-430) the following named officers and enlisted men of the organizations indicated, are granted leave of absence for three days, exclusive of travel, with permission to visit Paris, effective April 7, so as to arrive in Paris, April 8, 1919:

Capt. William Ernst, 56th Infantry
1st Lt. Allan F. Bonnalie, Air Service, A.S.S.C., 2nd Army.
1st Lt. L. F. Gehres, Inf., A.C. of S., G-4, Hq. Second Army.
2nd Lt. M. B. Butler, Engrs., A.C. of S., G-4, Hq. Second Army.
2nd Lt. Howard F. Russell, 141st Squadron (Pursuit)
2nd Lt. John B. Wright, 141st Squadron (Pursuit)
2nd Lt. Edward J. Trotter, 64th Infantry
2nd Lt. Wright E. Turner, 141st Squadron (Pursuit)

Sgt. Glen J. Schall, 751344, Ambulance Co. No. 35.
Sgt. Robert Koller, 641874, Ambulance Co. No. 35.
Sgt. Thomas R. Riley, 1033755, Co. H, 64th Inf.

Cpl. Frank C. Houser, 2018604, Co. D, 1st Bn., 2nd Army M. P.
Cpl. Victor F. Johnson, 480152, Co. B, 55th Inf.
Cpl. Riley J. Godbey, 1590142, C.M.T.O., 2nd Army.
Cpl. Louis G. Chouinard, 785789, Co. F, 439th Supply Train.
Cpl. Edward B. Snook, 778320, Co. F, 439th Supply Train.
Cpl. Thomas F. Monahan Jr., 2837035, Co. F, 439th Supply Train.

Chauf. 1/cl. Frank E. Welsh, 1068479, 223rd Aero Squadron
Chauf. 1/cl. Gregory J. Finnigan, 1085978, 16th Balloon Co.
Chauf. Todd K. Glenn, 1085981, 16th Balloon Co.

Mech. Arthur R. Anderson, 2788136, Hq. Co., 79th F.A.

Pvt. 1/cl. Edward J. Herson, 37343, 85th Aero Squadron.
Pvt. 1/cl. Harold F. Redman, 2043151, Co. D, 1st Bn., 2nd Army M. P.
Pvt. 1/cl. Paul E. Haines, 483510, Supply Det., 10th Field Bn. Signal
Pvt. 1/cl. Frank W. Imes, 484545, Co. A, 10th Field Bn. Signal Corps
Pvt. Fred Maxwell, 1109501, 16th Balloon Co.
Pvt. Richard D. Ellis, 1169101, 16th Balloon Co.
Pvt. Cecil P. Duffy, 1082491, 16th Balloon Co.
Pvt. Harold D. Oliver, 2534160, M.D., Hq. Mobile Field Lab., 7th Div.
Pvt. Frank Brottmiller, 2031032, Hq. Co., 2nd Army Prov. Reg. Repl. Depot
Pvt. Edward Sullivan, 291625, Co. D, 1st Bn., 2nd Army M. P.
Pvt. Sidney B. Smith, 2987310, M.D., 2nd Army Prov. Reg. Repl. Depot
Pvt. Hilmer Rudenberg, 2986839, M.D., 2nd Army Prov. Reg. Repl. Depot
Pvt. Orville P. Bierer, 482921, Co. B, 55th Infantry.
Pvt. Allen Graham, 1405283, Ord. Det., 79th F.A.
Pvt. Bonner W. Gamber, 490437, Co. B, 55th Inf.
Pvt. Eugene J. Dougherty, 2782335, Co. B, 55th Inf.

The Quartermaster Corps will pay the enlisted men commutation of rations at the rate of sixty cents per day for the number of days absent.

ARMEE AMERICAINE PERMISSIONNAIRE — QUART DE TARIF

x x x x x

By command of Lieutenant General BULLARD:

STUART HEINTZELMAN,
Chief of Staff.

OFFICIAL:
ALLEN SMITH, JR.,
Adjutant General.

Document

Notes:

This Class “C” leave pass, issued to Corporal Louis G. Chouinard of Company F, 439th Supply Train, formalizes the brief but highly regulated leave granted in the April 3, 1919 orders. Dated for departure on April 6, it allowed him three days in Paris, not including travel time, and required strict documentation at every step—signatures, official stamps, and proof of arrival and departure. The form emphasizes that this was not duty status leave, meaning transportation and lodging were at the soldier’s expense, offset only by a modest ration allowance of sixty cents per day. Instructions printed on the reverse highlight the bureaucratic oversight surrounding even short periods of rest: the pass had to be carried at all times, shown to military police or French officials on request, stamped by the Provost Marshal in Paris, and returned to his commanding officer upon completion. Together with the earlier orders, this document illustrates how the Army managed morale in the postwar period—granting soldiers a tightly controlled glimpse of Paris while maintaining careful administrative control over their movements.

Transcript

Front

CLASS “C” LEAVE
(Under G.O. 14, G.H.Q., 18 January 1919)

NOT ON A DUTY STATUS

LEAVE FOR A PERIOD OF THREE DAYS TO VISIT PARIS
(Time of travel excluded) IS GRANTED TO

Name: Louis G. Chouinard, 785789

Rank: Corporal Company or Unit: Company “F”

Regt. or Organization: 439th Supply Train, A.P.O. 918

To Leave Station on April 6th 1919, 1919.

Organization Allotment of Class C Leaves

Officers ________, Soldiers $0.60, per day

Number now on Class C Leave, Officers 0, Soldiers 0

Signature of Commanding Officer Granting Leave:

Robert N. Richard
1st Lieut. Q.M.C. USA
Commanding Co. F, 439th Sup. Tn.

Armée Américaine Permissionnaire — Quart de Tarif

Arrived at Paris __________________

STAMP HERE

Should Leave Paris ________________

STAMP HERE

[Stamped markings include:]
PROVOST MARSHAL – A.E.F.
APR 1919

[Handwritten:] likely 4/6/19 (arrival/processing notation)

Back

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE

1. This card to be valid must be signed by the officer who has authority to grant the leave as provided in G.O. 14, G.H.Q., C.S.
2. It must be carried by the officer or soldier and shown by him on request of a superior officer, M.P., or a French Official.
3. This card must be stamped by the A.P.M. at Paris and returned by the holder to his immediate Commanding Officer on his return to home station.
4. It is to be shown to the railroad official from whom the ticket is purchased.
5. It is not valid for leave on a duty status. That is, under this leave, rail transportation and quarters are not provided at Government expense. In case of a soldier, he is entitled to draw commutation of rations at 60 cents per day.
6. The date of return to home station must be noted on this leave card.
7. CLASS “C” LEAVES EXPIRE 72 HOURS AFTER ARRIVAL IN PARIS.

RETURNED TO STATION ON ____________________, 1919.

Signature C.O. Robert N. Richard

Letter Pages & Envelope

Notes:

This letter, written on April 24, 1919 aboard the U.S.S. Pennsylvania, was sent to Corporal Louis G. Chouinard by a cousin who also shares his first name, adding a layer of familial confusion typical of French-Canadian naming traditions. Unlike Chouinard, who was serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, the writer appears to be in the Navy, describing recent travel through South America, the West Indies, and Cuba while en route back to the United States. The mention of a third man, “Louis La Chaine,” aboard the same ship further reflects the tight-knit social and family networks common among servicemen of the period. The letter blends travel updates, personal gossip, and lighthearted reflections on romance, offering a parallel perspective to Chouinard’s own experience of the war’s aftermath. Together with the Army documents in the collection, it expands the narrative beyond a single individual, illustrating how members of the same extended family could serve in different branches, move through different parts of the world, and remain connected through letters during this transitional moment between war and home.

Transcript

April 24th, ’19

Dear Cousin Louis:

Your letter of March the 27th, which was very glad to hear from you. I am very well. Saw the Pheasant and hope the same of you. Well Louis I will make up you this time I expect you had and will be back by that time so we can enjoy all good times together.

I see by your letter that you know that I’m a free man now to flirt with whom I please, but Louis it wasn’t her that quit, it was me, and she was married within a month after I quit. She was playing a sure game and caught one ready. In case I should not, and of course I know now, and within a month she was married.

But I have to give her credit, she gave me first chance, ha ha ha. Well Louis hurry and come home. La France can stand the summer with each other as you know. We will be in Newport the greater part of the summer. Oh what a time we can have. I am writing to Rose and Eva Charmand now, and they are planning on a good time this summer.

I think they are very nice girls. I rec’d a letter from Aunt Cecile and she tells me that Fred expects to come home in June. They are planning to give him a big party. When he gets back I hope I am on leave when he gets back, so I can get in on the party.

Don’t tell me that the nice girls of Shirley there that I can pick me out a new friend. I suppose you heard that the celebration there before embarking. Aunt tells me that they rec. many nice presents. I felt like she was sweet sister, ha ha.

Louis I guess this will be all for this time and I hope I will hear from you before I am home, as for me I am going to change over to a new add. this time. So I can write you when I want to, and all are well here in the East. Grandmother is the same as ever, that is very well.

So they say. By the way I am on the Pennsylvania with Louis La Chaine here with me. Make sure your write me here and use my new address.

Best wishes and hope that you will be home early this summer.

I am sending you a Kodak picture was taken while in South America last Feb. The smaller one was taken last winter a year ago. The two girls are two prominent girls. I caught Eva and Cecile laughing. But one was quick enough to hide her face.

With my best wishes, I am
Your Cousin,
L. G. Chouinard

U.S.S. Pennsylvania
c/o P.O. Master
Box 10
N.Y. U.S.A.

Letter Pages & Envelope

Notes:

Written nearly three years after the war, this final letter reveals that Louis maintained contact with at least one person he met during his time in France, offering rare evidence of a friendship that endured beyond service and distance. Robert explains that he had Louis’s earlier letter translated and now replies in French, hoping Louis can do the same—an exchange that required genuine effort on both sides and underscores the importance of their connection. His description of Paris as largely unchanged, paired with a light remark about the city’s “midinettes,” suggests a return to normal life and everyday rhythms after the upheaval of war. Unlike earlier documents in the collection, this letter reflects a quieter reality—office work, calm business conditions, and the slow resumption of civilian life. Robert even admits that time and distance had nearly caused him to forget, making Louis’s renewed correspondence all the more meaningful. He closes with an open invitation for Louis to return to France and visit, and with a simple borrowed phrase—“shake hand”—reaching across both language and distance.

Transcription, French

Paris, le 23 janvier 1922

Mon cher ami,

J’ai bien reçu votre lettre de bonne année et je vous en remercie beaucoup.

Excusez-moi si je ne vous ai pas écrit plus tôt, d’abord je n’avais pas votre adresse et puis ne connaissant pas l’anglais. Il a fallu que je fasse traduire votre lettre à un de mes amis qui était en permission; comme celui-ci est reparti au régiment, je suis contraint de vous écrire en français. J’espère que vous pourrez comprendre ou en tous cas traduire ma lettre.

Que je regrette de ne pas savoir votre langue! Votre lettre, croyez-le bien, m’a fait un très grand plaisir, car depuis le temps que nous avions fait connaissance et la grande distance qui nous sépare, j’avais presque oublié.

J’ai beaucoup d’ouvrage à mon bureau, quoique les affaires soient bien calmes.

Paris est toujours le même depuis que vous l’avez quitté, autant de gentilles midinettes.

Je vous envoie donc tous mes meilleurs vœux: bonne santé et du travail.

J’espère que si vous revenez en France vous voudrez me rendre visite; cela me ferait grand plaisir.

Je vous quitte dans l’espoir de vous relire. Veuillez agréer mon cordial “shake hand”.

Votre ami,
Robert Cesslin
58 Rue Louis Blanc
Paris 10e
(France)

Transcription, English

Paris, January 23, 1922

My dear friend,

I have received your New Year’s letter and thank you very much for it.

Please excuse me for not having written to you sooner. First, I did not have your address, and also I do not know English. I had to have your letter translated by one of my friends who was on leave; as he has since returned to his regiment, I am obliged to write to you in French. I hope that you will be able to understand it, or at least have my letter translated.

How I regret not knowing your language! Your letter, believe me, gave me great pleasure, for since the time we made each other’s acquaintance, and with the great distance that separates us, I had almost forgotten.

I have a great deal of work at my office, although business is quite calm.

Paris is still the same as when you left it—just as many charming young ladies.

So I send you all my best wishes: good health and steady work.

I hope that if you return to France, you will come and visit me; it would give me great pleasure.

I leave you with the hope of hearing from you again. Please accept my cordial “shake hand.”

Your friend,
Robert Cesslin
58 Rue Louis Blanc
Paris 10th arrondissement
France

Document

By February 1922, the war had already begun to settle into memory—edges softened, distances widened, the noise reduced to stories told over drinks. But for the men of the 439th Supply Train, it hadn’t vanished. It had simply changed venues.

At Keen’s English Chop House in New York, they gathered again—no longer scattered across depots and rail lines in France, but seated at tables, menus in hand, names printed neatly instead of scribbled in pencil. The “Second Annual Reunion” sounds almost modest, but the program tells a richer story. Every dish carries a place: Brest, Dijon, Toul, Langres. Even Hoboken makes an appearance, tucked between beer and cider. It’s a menu, yes—but also a map of where they had been, what they had carried, and what had carried them through.

On the facing page, a quieter note: “In Memory of Our Dear Departed Comrades.” No names listed here—just the absence, understood without explanation. The kind of silence that follows men into peacetime and sits down with them at dinner.

For someone like Louis G. Chouinard, whose papers trace a path from wartime service through leave in Paris and letters home, this moment feels like a return of a different kind. Not the journey back across the Atlantic, but the slower one—back into civilian life, into memory, into the company of those who understood without needing to explain.

The war had taken them far from home. The reunion brought them back together—not as soldiers on duty, but as men remembering where they had been, and who had not come back with them.

Transcript

Second Annual Reunion
439th Supply Train

KEEN’S ENGLISH CHOP HOUSE
NEW YORK
February 11th, 1922

IN MEMORY
OF
OUR DEAR
DEPARTED COMRADES

MENU

CELERY
a la Camp Johnston

OLIVES
a la Camp Hill

RADISHES
a la U.S.S. Siboney

PANNED OYSTERS
a la Brest

BEEF STEAK ON TOAST
a la Dijon

LOIN LAMB CHOP
a la Toul

FRENCH FRIED POTATOES
a la Langres

PIE
a la Bourg

COFFEE
a la U.S.S. Mt. Vernon

BEER AND CIDER
a la Hoboken

CIGARS AND CIGARETTES
a la Camp Merritt

Committee

H. Frank Jones — Co. “A”
Edward Peene — Co. “A”
Frank Casey — Co. “B”
John T. Feeley — Co. “C”
Frank Piantadosi — Co. “C”
James McNeice — Co. “D”

Versailles Tickets

This pair of tickets, issued by the American YMCA Sightseeing Department, documents a visit to Versailles—likely taken during Louis’s authorized leave in April 1919. Priced at 2 francs, the ticket reflects the organized excursions offered to American soldiers stationed in France after the war, giving them a chance to see historic sites before returning home.

The handwritten details—date marked “8” and time noted around 12:45—suggest a scheduled departure, reinforcing how structured these outings were. The accompanying return ticket, to be “held until called for,” hints at a coordinated group trip, likely managed in stages by YMCA staff.

These tickets align closely with Louis’s Class “C” leave to Paris, adding a human dimension to the official orders: beyond the paperwork granting permission, we see what that leave actually looked like—a brief escape from military routine, a train ride out to Versailles, and a moment of normalcy in the aftermath of war.

Bread Ration Coupons

This strip of French bread ration coupons, labeled “Militaires en déplacement” (soldiers in transit), represents a very different side of Louis’s experience overseas. Each ticket is for 100 grams of bread, issued under wartime (and immediate postwar) rationing systems that remained in place due to ongoing shortages across France.

Unlike the YMCA excursion tickets—structured, recreational, almost generous—these coupons reflect necessity. Bread, the most basic staple, was controlled, measured, and distributed in strict portions. For soldiers moving between locations, these tickets ensured access to food while away from their assigned units or regular mess arrangements.

The contrast is striking: within the same period, Louis could carry a ticket to visit Versailles… and another to receive a fixed allotment of bread.