Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1917-10-24
News NOTES FROM I Q
CAMP DODGE
Interesting Information From the
Place Where Our Boys
Are Training,

Division Headquarters, Camp
Dodge. H.. Oct. s12-They wondered
WREN. Major General Plummsr 2saids he
would make soldiers at Camp Dodge:
in three months. Kitchener said it
took six months. But Kitchener was
making Tommies out Of slow but get
there Englishmen.
They don't wonder any more. They
have begun to realize that General
P1ummer's vision reached beyond the
logical objective. It ls logical to meas
urec what America can do with what
the nations OF Europe have done. Cen
eral Plummer saw the material from
which armies are made.
He grasped the fact that the new
National army, is; thanks to selective
CONSUMPTION, to be builded Of THE
Average American" And he knows
that the average man of no other ma
ton can stand up beside the average
American and prove himself his equal
in brains. He also knows that the
best brains make the best soldiers.
The Canadians proved it first at Vimy
ridge and they have left no room for
doubt since.
The most remarkable feature OF the
Eighty,eighth division cantonment to-
day is the swiftness with which the
raw and awkward recruits Of a. month
and six weeks ago are being trans
I formed into soldiers.
You should see a battalion or a regt'
ment of them swinging down the
broad concrete turnpike from the
drill grounds, with the easy stride
that marks the march of the seasoned
soldier, their feet beating rhythmic
tread upon the hard road. keeping
time to the sharp count of the ser
geants, Observation-Disclosures
! OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES" They car
ry- their heads up and seldom Is II
necessary for the non.coms to break
the count with the reminder of "Heads
UP!" Their hats set squarely upon
their heads, not down over one eye
or perched back in recruitish tilt
They have learned their lessons we'll
John Barrett, director of the Pan
American Union, came out from Wash
lngton and saw them few days ago
>! II never have seen troops develop
80 wonderfully fast" he declared: HI
had been asked what impressed hin
most.
General Ptummer. in company will
Major General w. H. Carter. comman
dor Of the Central Department at Chi
cago, watched a regiment Of then
, stride into camp from hike one al
: ternoon. Veterans they are in mill
, tary life: yet when tho last compan,
, had passed. they turned and foun'
each other with wonderment in thei
eyes. This is their first experience il
making soldiers of the Average Am
erican Thru their years Of servic
they have watched the regular arm
man of peace times. who. tho goo
fighting man when he has learned hi
military A B ~C's hasn't the snap an
the mental quickness of his new bro
Their of the ranks, the selective.
Cad what soldiers they will be!
exclaimed General Plummer. 9TH
world will never see an army thei
| equals. And this Eighty.eighth divis
ion will just be little better tina
, the rest
And in that he referred to the spler
did physique of the conscripts fror
iowa, Illinois. North Dakota and Mil
nesota, the man of the middle ives
which are Just little better than tn
average not only in America but E,
rope as we'll.
- William H. Sheppard. war CORE!
pondent tor the United Press, ha
seen the soldiers of many countrie,
But when he went to the border las
year and saw the boys from Iowa an
Illinois and Minnesota and other mi,
die western states. he sent out a di
\ patch in which he said:
these guardsmen here are anon
the biggest soldiers I have ever see,
[ recall only two units with men {
larger stature. They were the Kai
er's own hand picked regiment, and
prize regiment OF Russians
What Is the secret OF the rapid d.
velopment OF the boys at Cam
Dodge?
The day they set foot within tn
military reservation, their bushes
) became soldering. And they went :
It with American business style. The
knew they had to learn it and the
set out to learn it right. They a,
learning It In. minute detail. The
overlook Nothing that will help then
J Non'commissioned officers jobs ava
the most. proficient. They have goo
5 tnstructors-1,2oe officers direct fro
training school at Fort Smelling an
500 serseants from the regular arm
The regular army drill sergeant is
! d class by himself. But the office,
1 from Smelling are In many instance
! the better instructors: They q,
teaching TO other men what they ha,
just learned. And they haven't TO
! gotten the points that were most d1
I acult for them to master. There
where they are: valuable to the r
I The officers md eager student
{ Captain Harrison Fuller acting adju
I ant of the 1e3rd Artillery brigade, d
scribed the spirit whom he said:
q when the men arc called togeth,
81 for an Instructive talk. fhav ann,