The Ocala evening star., 1915-04-26
EXPERIENCE OF AN AMERICAN
IN THE GERMAN ARMY


is very proud of Karl Llewelyn, the
senior who has just returned to coll
lege after being wounded and win
ming the Iron Cross.
When Llewelyn landed in New York
several weeks ago, he refused to dis
cuss his exploits at all, and he still
is silent about the deed of heroism
which ended in his lying wounded on
the battlefield for many hours, and
being picked up a little better thar
dead. He has, however, just been in
duced to describe the method which
he forced himself into the German
army.
He said today:
cit was August when we drew up
on the German frontier. Instead of
the customs officers which one usual
ly finds, there were ladies serving hot
coffee and sandwiches to the passen-
gers aboard the incoming trains. Most
of these passengers were refugees
from England who were being well
coined to the Fatherland.
81 got off at every stop the train
made and tried to enlist, but they told
me they were full and would have
to go on. Finally I found a place
where they would accept me and we
were sent to the drill ground. The
peace sergeants', who had retired
from ten to twenty years before were
in charge of the drill, and we had
to stand around more than would have
been the case had we been in charge
of men who were in active service.
1t is tribute to these men that they
got US in the shape they did.
"The class of soldiers we met at
the start of the war were better ed
ucated than the ordinary regulars.
Nine weeks later we were at the
front. / failed to get the full nine
weeks training, however, for at the
end of six weeks my commandant
came to me and informed me that be-
cause of a communication from the
state department of the United States
/ was bounced. sent in protest
to the Kaiser but it never got there.
"But waited. / went down to the
station, with about 300 girls to see
my company off when it entrained.
tried to get through the gates, but
couldn't, so went down the track
and hoped the train as it came by.
My comrades were glad to see me
and would do anything for me. You
can have nay boots,' said one. Take
this coat said another. took them
and with that disguised managed to
elude the officers.
when we got well into France,
however, I fessed up to the captain,
and he called me down in about the
prettiest fashion you ever saw. He
spent ten minutes at it. reminding me
of the responsibility I had placed
upon him. / felt smaller and small
er. / really had not been considerate
but cad. If got hit with a bullet
4 would sue him and force him to
pay me alimony.
"He was really tickled with
the proposition of my being there
though. He let me march in the col
umn with the men when we went
forward. Soon man became footsick.
/ took his pack. In the villages we
went through everyone thought was
a prisoner. You know, the first thing
a soldier makes a prisoner do is to
carry his baggage, and was doing
that in civilians suit. The diff
Guilty with this prisoner was that he
sang their own songs with them.
FINALLY they let me enlist. I wore
a pair of French work trousers. A
sergeant was killed and / got his
coat, and it fitted me admirably.
Equipment soon became easy to OBJ
tain, but it was not so before any
were killed.
'1 want TO say something about
atrocities, of which you have heard so
much. won't say there were none,
for there were atrocities on both
sides. You've all heard of the Cathe-
dral at Rheims and the way the bar
barians shot it to pieces. was there
at the time. We were not shooting at