Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-10
.LTTTLEPEN MEN
HAVE WINNING PEP
Spirit of Troops at Camp
Meade Praised by General
Nicholson
HAVE RIGHT GU LITlES

~ Nf"f ''d''f
CAMP MEApl,. 49,, Md. oct 10.
THAT America ", 40 the war because
:, the "sticr-to.it" aud "up-and-at-'em"
,rlrit Of It's soldery isi the sist 0f re-
.,a,pable statement made today. by Briga-
n,er General william j. Nicholson COM
,,,,der Of the l57th Infantry Brigade, at
this camp.
casting aside the letters OF red tape
,bs, compel ranking army officers to
vnbho d their person 4 opinions, General
nicholson discussed HE human side OF
t.rc,e SANS khaki hUys Of the seventy
ninth Division and. with much emphasis
escorted that they viii administer severe
hosting to Kaiser wiihelm's "Unthnking
Army"
How the men from farms Of Maryland
d penrsvIyanfa and the shops. Offices
snd factories Of Philadelphia are being
vbipped into the worlds most efficient sol
Siers he describes as one of the wonders
and marvels Of the military world.
tts makes NO secret Of the fact that the
.hisf objects oC the training course At Lit
tle penn concern discipline, pep and sphit.
for without these qualities. hec declares. 4 =
soldier is worthless.
IMPORTANCE or DISCIPLINE
"Discipline." he began. lis the most inn
portant Of all. Tor q soldier to lie efficient
on the field Of battle must he TOO per cent
nerfect I'm discipline The new recruit must
! k imbued with the principles Of discipline
and understand their. value. for in an en-
Vagenleut his very life may depend upon
< them The battlefield orders must he obeyed
instantly and to obey instantly man must
be- well disciplined
.Rut we must not imply that American
,.ff fhni mi la - IN
disripliue as 1t is applied in the American
.rnv develops a soldiers intuitiVe powers
He Is developed as a part of great SyS-
tenn or organization and, having definite
duty to perform must think. To have this,
great organization act as unit. 1t Is
necessary for every man to do his duty
and do II at the proper time. That is
where discipline plays its part
How does the American discipline COM
pare with the German system? The German
soldier is taught to obey, aud to obey
hndly Tie is part or great machine.
hut only a few men in that machine a..
permittcd to think. For instance. when
American troops are engaged in battle.
there is never any fear on the part OF
the men that they win lose in the event
Of their officers being kliled. II a general
l. killed. colonel i'll his place imme-
dately If lieutenant is killed. a quick
thinking sergeant takes his place.
THAT is not the case in the German army,
for when y company luseS its leadsr. the
men are dcmDraliHcd They have been
taught 10 obey. but not 10 think"
Touching upon the spirit of the American
soldiers. General Nicholson asserted tuat
il the same today. as Ia the day Of Val
Icy Fo,g gc. Gvtty'hurg and Santiago
Spirit that viii win the war for America
ard civilization.
THE CNN'T-LOSE FEELING
America .oldiers" said the General.
$50 into lu with the feeling that thry
can't lose. never entertain the idea
4 that they WI lose. and when getting
licking they dont know it. II is a stick
tO-it and up-and-at-'em spirit that carries
them through and that spirit will smash
the German liueR."
At this po'ut General Nicholson paid
the seventy "a division compliment
that ought tu Quicken the heart-beatS Of
every Philadclphan.. and in fact every.
community that has contributed its sons
TO the division After spyinE that the
men were progressing rapidly in their
training and that. they were developing
into model soldiers. General Nicholson
made this statement;
We take every man and put this Ques-
tion to him: If you were on the battle
held, and during the torrent of shells and
bullets feel that you have a chance to
save your life by going backward, and
that to go forward means death. what
would you do?' We caution him to think
well before he replies, but always comes
the answer: i would go forward That
typihes the spirit of the American army
and tyDhes the spirit Of the Seventy
ninth division. When these boys get on
7 th firing line there viii he no backward
!, steps. They will keep moving and always
to the front And when they are getting
licking they will 6rht all the harder, for
their spirit is expressed in the immortal
words Of John Paul Jones, i've just begun