The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-08-03

trenches, either you nnd 1t 1ull or
dead-from your artillery; you had
no time to shoot while you were run
ming forward-or else it will be oc-
cupied only by few of the most
hopelessly frightened men you ever
saw. It is almost as bad to be at
tackled, of course, as it is to attack;
in either case death is sitting on your
shoulders.
eff there are Germans yet alive
you rush up with the bayOnet and
take them prisoner. They hold their
hands aloft. Then you see the only
happy look you ever see in war-the
look in the eyes of man who has
been taken prisoner. Prisoners are
happy. They are through with the
war.
Always Hope for Peace.
There is nothing harder than
leaving the hospital and returning
to the front. When you have been
sent to the hospital you have told
yourself, Maybe I will stay here ten
days or two weeks, and by that time
there will be peace That is what
you are always hoping for-the end
of the war. Just as you do not know
when it may end, or why. All is out
of sight.
s'But the war has not ended; and
the order comes for you to join the
regiment.
"For this return to the trench of
death the French soldiers have in
vented word that shows how they
feel about it. When Christ was led
to be crucifed, and knew what tor
ture he was facing, the mountain up
which they led him was Calvary.
Called Trenches Calvary.
'"That is the word that stands for
the act of marching into certain, sure
agony; and that is what the French
soldier calls it when he returns to
the front from the hospital. 1t is
called 'Calvaire.'
-Four times I underwent Cal
vaire.' The fourth time was worse
than the first; and the fifth-the
fifth did not happen.
81 had been sent back to the front
in the Argonne region. We were be-
ing bombarded by the great German
guns, throwing huge shells, and one
of these struck the ground not 20
feet in front of the French trench
directly opposite me.
Gail I heard was an incredible
roar and shock. In that same in
stant I knew I was alive, and then
that I was dead, for I was buried in
the ground.
Buried Alive.
s'The blood rushed to my head and
I tainted. I could not breathe.
"But the light came back, and I
was lying on my back in the filthy
bottom of the trench-alive. 1t
seemed that I had simply been caught
beneath the trench wall as it caved
in and buried. The shell had not
struck me. My feet had been left
projecting up into the air, and my
comrades pulled me out.
'The worst was the shock. I was
very weak and sick. But they did
not give me hospital orders. Every
man was needed in the trench, for
an attack was expected.
"And less than week later the
same thing happened again. A shell
came, caved in the bank, and once
again 1 was buried in the ground.
Thought Himself Insane.
"Try having three great wagon
loads of dirt suddenly flung on top
of you by an explosion. My nervous
system was wrecked. I thought N.Y.
self insane.
"They sent me to the rear, more
dead than alive, and much of the
time I was out of my head.
Glow it happened that my fifth
'Calvaire' never happened I shall not
relate. There would be others in
volved beside myself.
call I will tell is that after two
weeks of flight and starvation [
found myself over the southern bor-
der of France, with no money and
but little clothing, sick, walking to-
ward the Pyrenees mountains, which
were covered with the freezing snow
of early winter.
"And I crossed those mountains,
often waist-deep in snow, found a
ship at a Spanish port, and came
home. The other particulars I shall
not reveal.
"But I shall say this-and say it
with all the sincerity of a man who
Prnro