Camp Colt pictures and life of a soldier at Camp Colt 1917 - 1918.

a short story from Frank Burns

"The company all got run through the cootie machine yesterday. The way they do it is to take all your clothes and blankets and roll em up and put them in the boiler and turn live steam on em for a half hour and while that is going on you take a bath. Sometimes you have more cooties after this process than when you started. These cooties are considered part of your equipment and all good soldiers have them. The government is very strict about the boys and their cooties and they are not going to have the boys take their pets back to the states with them and every one has to go through a physical examination before they start on the transport. We have great times reading our undershirts with a candle light. Anyone to see a fellow reading his under clothes would wonder what he was doing but that is what tell the tale and that where you find them. It is just as easy as reading the newspaper."