From Chaplain Edwards in From Doniphan to Verdun:
No man dreamed that the end was near. On the Argonne battlefield the enemy had fought with no sign of weakness. At Verdun, except for the leaflets about peace — which we supposed were mere camouflage — the Germans were very active. The shells came over with far greater frequency than the peace pamphlets. We intended to be in Berlin by Christmas, and wanted to fight— or rather to go through with the job. Suddenly on Monday, November the eleventh, at eleven o’clock, came The Armistice. “Fini la guerre!”
Men took it quietly. Men like these learn to take everything quietly. Some were sorry — they wished to punish the Boche. One man said, “Now I’ll eat mother’s cooking again!” another “Now I’ll see that girl of mine!” another, “Now we’ll be home by Christmas!” Their thoughts were all turned toward home, but it was to be a long, long while after Christmas before they were to sight the shores of their homeland.
In the little French villages, in the trenches, or along the roads, wherever a Frenchman saw a doughboy, he would greet him with a joyous shout, and cry “Fini la guerre!’ and if possible they would drop in somewhere to celebrate.
MN Doughboy 1918 