The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-09-06
DECLINED ron HONOR.


over on the west side-No. Al DeKaIb
| street, to be defnite-lives handsome.
! clean-cut young fellow. just OF age and
! whose name is Michael J. Budinger. How
many people are there to whom the name
means anything, or who after thought
! can remember having heard il before?
I Budinger is a Chicago boy, and he came
| back into the city the other day after
l little more than three years absence.
and outside OF the members Of his family,
the mother. the father. the sisters and
the brothers. who live in the little home
on the West Side, no one met him with
any great amount of acclaim. Yet this
boy Budinger suffered more personally
for his country on recent occasion than
did scores Of men whose coming to Chi
cagO would mean many winnings and din
ings and many interviews in the daily
press.
Budinger was only one OF the boys be-
hind the guns. In the battle that gave
the Philippine Islands and many millions
OF people to the United States, Michael
J. Budinger suffered more than any other
man in Dewey's great fleet. When the
cheers of victory sounded across Manila
Bay on that May morning BUdinger did
not hear them. In fact, the surgeons and
his messmates fully believed that the
boy would get his first knowledge Of the
American victory in another world. The
Chicago lad was shell man of one Of the
aft six-iach rifles on board the United
states steamship Baltimore, Captain
Dyer commanding. Up TO the time that
Dewey gave the order TO withdraw tenn
porariIy that his men might have cup
of coffee, BUdinger had stood behind the
thin shield Of the six-inch rife ana had
passed a shell every minute or two into
its yawning breech. Then, for reasons
amply sufficient to himself and TO his
udi "a IA
shells and took no further interest in the
proceedings Budinger was one OF the
seven Americans who were hurt in the
battle Of Manila bay. All these men were
on board the Baltimore and all were ssrv-
ing the same gun. Budinger was the
most seriously injured one Of the lot, and
it was believed for several weeks that his
name would go on the record as being
that of the only American seaman killed
in the conflict.
The other night Captain Joseph W.
OiDOunell. man who has seen service,
ran into Budinger. O'Donnell has a long
memory, and the name struck him like
a fash He questioned the boy and soon
saw his Manila medal, his discharge and
record papers and the scar that circles
the eye from forehead 10 cheek bone.
O'Donnell told of the sailors presence.
The boy has a little store on the west
Side. and there. when pressed a little. he
told his midest tale of the first part o.
that Manila Bay fight from the stand-
point of one Of the little group OF mel
every one of whom was sent to the sick
bay by a Spanish shell.
Outside of the actual personal expert
ence OF one of those who got hurt
little" said the sailor, the story OF the
battle of the bay is wearisOmely old to
everybody. We went into the bay, went
down by the face of the enemy, draw
ing their fire first at a distance too great
to hurt US. Then. on the first turn we
cut in close and let loose broadsides as
we went past. The turns that we made
are old stories now. 1 was shell man
of one of the six-inch rifles This gun
has a shield about the breech to protect
the men from small arms fire, but il was
practically useless against heavy ord
nance. The Baltimore was hit only five
times, but the Spanish shells went over
US, about and around US constantly. They
made me nervous; they make everybody
nervous at first, and there was something
funny in the way the men would duck
their heads when something struck or
there was an explosion Ducking as a
means Of safety is not a success. Every
time that we fired, of course, a definite
aim was taken at some ship, and our
nervousness soon wore off in our anxiety
to see if we could follow the fight of
our shells to their destination. We
thought we did a lot of damage with our
rifle. but where things were flying SO
thick and fast it might have been some
other fellows shell that did that which
we took credit for.
I'VE had made the last loop and were
just getting beyond the front of the en-
emy's line prior TO going out to get a
bite TO eat when something happened.
A short distance from US on the deck was
a box Of three-pounder shells just sent
up from way down in the ammunition
hold. A Spanish shell went through the
side of the Baltimore into an officers I
cabin, knocked beam upward and out
ward, took a glancing direction itself and
hit and exploded that ammunition box.
1 have a sort of dim recollection of a
crash. All The rest [ learned subsequent
" The chances are that the seven OF us
who were behind the shield OF the six
inch rifle were knocked out by pieces of I
American ammunition which the Spanish
shell exploded.
Il didn't get any breakfast that morn
ing, any supper that night or any break
fast the next morning. l was uncou-
scious for more than twenty hours. A
piece of shell struck me squarely at the
side of the left eye. another piece hit me
in the chest and still another, a smaller
bit. hit me in the hand. I was in the
hospital for month. They thought I
was going to die. That's all there is 10
the story
What was the first thing you said
when you walked up after twenty hours
sleep?" asked a listener to the 3 ;amans
story.
The boys tell me that I opened my
eyes and said: Did we lick emf, " re-
piled Budinger.
Did We lick them? That is the first /
thought Of every true soldier and sailor.
Did we lick them?
1t is of such stuff that men are made /
Edward =. Clark.