Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-08-13
Lesson I.
YOUR POST OF HONOR.

OF HONOR.
Icupied trenches. thereby enabling IN,
crossing Of the river and the driving
of the enemy from his fortified posi-
tion"
On May &, 1900, Private William 2
Maclay. i2d T. $ Volunteer Infantry
charged an occupied bastiau, sa1u.
the life Of an officer in a hand to-hand
combat and destroying the enemy"
In all these eases medals of honor
were granted. The incidents, how
ever. are typical of the army Thou
sands of similar stories might be told
They represent the spirit that win in
spire the National Army when the
time comes to show the stun of which
it is made
Tales of heroic courage can be
found in the annals of all armies and
Of all nations But che American
Army has its own special tradition
which these Incidents illustrate. Il
is the tradition of intelligence. self
reliance, and individual daring on
the part Of men serving in the ranks
The Individual Soldier Counts.
Other things being equal. an army
made up of selfreliant. thinking men
has great advantage over merely
machinelike army, and this is espe
cially true in presenpday warfare.
Maj. Hugh l.. Scott. Chief of Staff. L.
5 A, remarks on this point.
The conditions under which modern
wars are fought are ever making in.
creasing demands on the individual
soldier The individual sol
dier must know how to interpret ac.
curately orders and signals, for the
enemy's fire may often so isolate him
from his leader and comrades, per.
haps only step away, that he may
be thrown on his own initiative in
making his actions conform to those
OF the whole line; he may have to use
his own Judgment in opening fire in
advancing, in intrenching."
Fair Play.
A second tradition of the American
Army which need only be mentioned
~ that Of fighting fairly and treating
even the enemy with as much human.
ity as his own conduct will permit. As
Tor Strengthening or enslaving the
CIVILIAN population of captured terri
tory, attacking prisoners or assaulting
women, American soldiers would as
llttle commit such crimes in time of
war as in time of peace In this re.
spect most of the civilized nations of
the world think alike.
Fighting For Rights and Principles.
I There is third splendid tradition
OF the American Army which you will
help to carry forward. 1t has fought
always and everywhere in defense of
principles and rights never merely
Tor territory and for power. Even the
civil War resulted from the clash of
opposing principles the principle of
an indivisibe Union upheld by the
North, and that of freedom TO with
draw from the Union upheld by the
South.
TO protect the rights Of citizens, the
American people have several times
opposed tyrannical governments the
English government in l77G and 1872.
the French government for a short
period ii 1SiS the Mexican govern.
ment in 1S4S, the Spanish government
in 1898 The final effect in each case
mas been to advance the cause of lib
erty and democracy throughout the
world, even in the countries against
which we fought Our weapons have
not willingly been turned against any
peoples, but only against the rulers
VINO miSgovcrned and misled them. In
lighting FOR our own rights the Ameri
can Army has fought also. in Presi
dent Wilson's phrase, for the rights
Of mankind"
For like high purpose, the Ameri-
can people have entered into the pres
ent war against the German govern.
lnent government which in our be-
llef misrepresents and misleads the
German people. Only by so doing can
we make America and the world safe
Tor democracy" But one ending can
be thought of-an ending that will
guarantee the continuance of all those
and rights which the
American Army has in the past SO
nobly fought to establish.
Never lose sight, even for an in.
stant. Of the fact that all your training
your effort. and your sacrifices have
inns one great object in view, the at
talnment of which is worth anything
II NAV pugt