Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-08-29
REDDY'S PLUCK


ON~N~0~~oO~-N-N-NO~~
| ~ ENERAL of us were seated
/ ~ around q table in the Manila
Club, talking about war and
! feats of daring. as men are wont to
| talk when some of their number are
still in khaki and campaign hats, with
| the smell of powder on their clothes.
Although there was still plenty of
| fighting going on within few miles
of Manila. the stories were mostly of
| dSss long gone by. and had acquired
certain unnatural luster by dint of
frequent usage. 1t is curious how
| men will crane their necks and strain
their eyes toward the past in order 10
| tind proof of the hardness which
every day they pass by unnoticed in
the men around them One man went
so far as to suggest: There isn't any
chance the way we fight nowadays
for man to show any individual
nerve; he is simply machine, and
medals are distinctly out of place"
| Medals may be out of date, old
man" said Captain OldsborOugh. hut
the sort of thing that won the med
ais Is happening all along the line |
had young corporal in my company
when | was on duty down in Tayabas
Province, who had the kind of sand
that one doesn't even read about Of
| ten. He was IA boy about u years
| old from factory town in Connect
cut, where | think he worked in hat
shop. There wasn't one bit of ro-
nance or dash about him; he had
waShed-out red hair and freckles.
stood about five feet four III his shoes,
and weighed about one hundred and
twenty pounds. He never had any
thing to say for himself, and |
shouldn't have noticed him except for
his silent manner and the quiet, thor
0ugh way in which he attended TO all
his duties. I can't remember his name.
but the men all called him .Reddy
we had been in the field about
three weeks, and the fighting had all
been with small bands of guerillas.
who kept us constantly on the alert.
The rainy season had come on and
several of the men were suffering
fron dysentery; the cholera made us
very cautious of what we ate. and
even mangoes and bananas We're for
hidden fruit. We were far from com
Portable, and if man had any yellow
in him. | promise you il. showed Well.
Reddy' was never known to kick
about anything: several times knew
of his doing work for his 'bunkle.'
1--WE had been harassed for several
days by small band of natives who
had been following MS at safe dis
lance and taking chance shot at any
who happen to straggle. | decided
that ii was best TO detail a squad of
reliable men to follow this party, and
once for all rid ourselves of their I'M
welcome presence. Accordingly | Sc
lected sixteen men under a sergeant,
placed 'Reddy' second in command.
and sent them off with few hours
provisions. They had with them two
native guides who soon got on the
track of the enemy, and weary
march of five hours began Part of
the way the walking was through
very heavy underbrush and bamboo
forests, so dense In parts that the men
had 10 walk in single file, and an I'M
expected 'holo' rush would probably
have finished the whole party before
| a shot could have been fired. Part of
the way lay through deserted rice pad
dies and tobacco fields, where the trop-
zeal sun burned fiercely when the rain
was not pouring down in torrents,
With the exception of one small viii
lage. whose inhabitants protested
themselves Amigos, and few stray
'carabao.' they saw not a living thing.
"Finally. toward dusk. the party
came ON small creek. whose banks
were covered for SEINE fifty yards on
both sides with a heavy dense growth
| OF. reeds and broad-leafed palms. No
| sooner Sas the middle Of this creek
reached than the men were surround
cd hy the band they We're in search
of. Instead however. of finding TWEEN
| ty-tive or thirty guerillas. as they had
expected, the enemy numbered about
| 100 order was given TO charge for
the open. \ short, sharp fight fol
lowed. and my men found themselves
in the open. pumping away for dear
! life with five of their number lying
somewhere between them and the
creek. About twenty-five yards fur
Their on stood single nepa shack,
which the Filipinos had used as
sort of arsenal. This shack was :heir
only refuge. and erother determined
charge brought them 10 it. On the
wey another man was killed and Red
! DIV was shot through the intestineS.
By sheer nerve he managed to get in
the hut. which was built on tiles about
five feet from the ground; the ten men
| r,r,,atnfnc 1ln6e nnnninrs I'm the ham.