Omaha daily bee., 1915-02-06
SOLDIERS BURST INTO EARS
German Officer Relates How Psy.
Geological Reaction After Bat.
tie Has Such an Effect
oAusEp BY TENslON OF NM


tCorfesrondcncr ot the Associated prcss)
tDtUgNF reb t."Npe. I WNpt. as
s1 wgnt others ave done wcpt without
I-lua ashamed NJ my tears. OF rcgrett,ng
nov that did Vecr. SAYS an officer
With The German army in POLAND, IN els
.YssirE the pso .ho.oLical edo of men I'm
action tc toints out that this a. a
ru'c 81 h0i an outbreak Of "nnudin SON
t'ncrtait.." rut lust rort ~ physical
ard eyct olopicei reaction fcl owing tho
teen ondour strain upon body and mind IN
battle
"rhc heavy Eussian batteries had hsen
sing cor ammunition and many OF their
t'o"oe he'd been silenced by our fire We
had been able. moreover, to send strong
f.r. os against their cntrcnched positions
and ne these advanced We took the Rus
rirn trcrCacH under terrific fire win
Our heavy batteries. There Is no infantry
thnt Nili withstand this shock. Here ana
t1eto Tho Russians left their trenches.
merely to be 80. down h. our machine
guns or to 10 decimatcd by our shrapnel
And az this day ended and the firing
began to weaken I wept Why. I don't
know ! lay IN the straw and wept. No.
because we had gained n vlctory-thosc
were not tears OF Joy There was no occa-
sion for tears OF sorrow II was over
cucNyl
J 1T Ia Faid sometimes that this Is the
/ beeirning Of the end But that thank
God. was not the case. I had not slept in
/ two nights.
"Atter I had made all necessary ar
ranEemcnts ! left the battlefield and rode
I past smouldering houses and villages
toward my quarters. where, without TAX
! ing OFF my bolt greatcoat or even the
| helmet, I threw myself upon the straw.
/ I slept from In the evening until mid
night like one dead. Whe- they finally
managed 10 bring mo TO my senses
was absolutely unable to believe that sew
eral heavy shells had dropped around the
place sheltering us.
"A cup OF champagne given me by q
comrade helped me bring my wits to,
gether. After that | sat down beside this
others at the large farm table covered
with maps and an over-active telephone
instrument and felt quite fresh
Not Nervous breakdown.
II began to think OF NY weeping spell
Was it case of nervous break down, OF
one of unsoldierly sentimentalism?
believed in the one as little as In the
other. | had been witness to tears be
fore, Those who wept them seemed tC
be as far removed from unstrung nerves
as they were from silly sentiments.
The experiences OF war bring the en-
tire nervous system and its physiological
and mental subsidiary functions into
sympathetic relations. When one suffers
the other suffers. The tension of the
mind-caused by continuous readiness t.
act and the sense of responsibility, tho
handships undergone by the body-th,
lack of sleep and rest, 0nd last. bat mo-
least. the passions of the battle, the noise
and din, the cruelty of war, and who
would dare gainsay this, the constan
recurrence of the fear of death end the
worry over the loved ones at home-al
these are forces so terrible that in the
end they will shake even the will of tn
man Of steel to its very foundations.
The causes Of tears on the battlefield
are not connected with traits we posses
in times OF peace, Nor has the persona
quality of the man much to 10 wit
them l believe that the tears shed b.
men on the battlefield are the typics
expression Of a mute tragedy of tn
soul"