| Summary: | During World War I Stout was a pilot, eventually serving as a lieutenant in the 27th Aero Squadron, First Pursuit Group. In this letter he discusses several topics, including the efficiency of the military's logistical planning; his daily routine at training camp; the layout of camp bunks; his first plane crash (or "smosh"); and a camp inspection by General Pershing. In another particularly notable passage, Stout provides a detailed description of the funeral honoring a pilot killed in a training accident, and he reflects on the danger of military life: "There were two new graves already dug by the side of this one and I guess many of us looked about among our comrades and wondered who among us would occupy them, for one never thinks that it will be he who will take the final altitude flight to that great celestial airdome."
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