The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1917-08-15

and your actions Fortunately, It is
virtue in which Americans generally
rank high There should be little diff
Guilty in setting a satisfactory standard
in the new army This Is subject
more fully treated later in this course.
Cheerfulncss.
CheerfulneS is always a prominent
trait of good soldiers. Here again
Americans may be counted upon to
make a splendid showing, even in the
face Of any unexpected hardships or diff
| fieulties that may be ahead OF US There
are numerous episodes in American
military history to justify thi, conf
dence.
In January, 1863, the union army lay
in camp at Falmouth, Va. About a
month before had occurred the dsas-
trous and bloody defeat of Fredericks
burg In the north it was the darkest
hour OF the war Everywhere outside
the army there was depression and fear
On January az the commanding gen
erzl ordered the troops TO break camp
and move forward At the same time "a
cold drilling rain set in; the ground
speedily became like a sea OF glue
everything upon wheels sunk into the
bottomless mud; it took twenty horses
to start a single caisson; hundreds OF
them died in harness; but still the gen
eral persisted. But the rain persisted
also, and 1t soon became a simple impos-
sibility to go forward" After two days
OF effort it was necessary to hxte the
men struggle and founder through the
wilderness of mud back to their camp"
Picture the situation: Recent defeat
with heavy losses retreat; cheerle8
mid-wlnter camp; rain cold #; mud; dis
couragement at home, a long march un-
der the most trying conditions ending
in return to the same camping ground
from which the troops had started. A
little grumblng might reasonably have
been expected But the men of 1868
were too good soldiers to draw long
faces. The historian goe, on The
march yas made in high good humor
the soldiers laughing and joking at their
ill-luck with that comic brightness char
acteristlc of Americans in difficult cir
cum,tances"
Three Qualities Of Battle.
Finally, there are the three battle
qualities of the good soldier
Spirit,
Tcnacity,
| Sclf-teLiance.
Unless a man has these three quail
ties--even though he possesses all the
other six in good measure-he is after
all only campfire soldier.
/ Spirit.
Spirit-fighting spirits far from
being mere hatred of the enemy or
blind fury, on the one hand; nor is it
mere passive obedience to orders, on
the other 1t means cool, self-con-
trolled courage-the kind OF courage
which enables man To shoot as
straight on the battlefield as he does
in target practice, However, It even
goes step beyvrd that point De
cisive victories cannot be won by mere
ly repusing the enemy. "Only the Of
fensive wins" (Infantry Drill Regu-
lations, paragraph SID
Like all the other qualities OF a
soldier, spirit can be cultivated An
: unframed army seldom possesses it.
] But it can be developed. You can and
will develop it until it becomes as much
part Of yourself as any OF your easy
going civilian habits arc now
Tenacity.
Spirit carries a body Of soldiers for.
ward, Tenaoi,y is the quality tina,
makes them stick" The thorough
soldier is never ready TO stop fighting
until his part OF the battle is won
Tenaci,y was never better expresseC
than in the words of John Paul Jones
Standing among his dead and wounded
on his sinking ship which was leak
ig like basket" he replied to hi
adversary's invitation to surrender
"Sir. have not yet begun to fight
Two hours later the battle came to ;
sudden end when the oolors of th'
enemys vessel were hauled down.
Self-Relianee.
Seli-reliance is Characteristic Of m,
American, whether he is serving as
sOlultI bl III SulIit NlNll bNNuUdtlbll
= Much the same quality is sometime
\ referred to as Initiative" 1t is
quality needed more than ever befor,
in present day warfare Major Gen
eral Leonard Wood. in his introduc
ton to the field service regulation, o
the United States army, says:
"Officers and men OF all ranks AM
grades are given certain independ
ence in the execution OF the tasks 4
which they are assigned and are ex
pected TO show initiative in meeting
the different situations as they arrive
Every individual, from the highes
commander TO the lowest private, mus
always remember that inaotion an
neglect OF opportunities will warran
more severe censure than an error il
the choice OF the means
Making Yourself Stronger
The nine qualities which have jus
been reviewed are those which every
ono of us would like TO have for him
self They are the essentials OF vitll
and successful manhood, whether /
" the army or cut Of il. Even the mora
- weakling and the Stacker in their hear,
\ admire these qualities.
u Doubte. YOU have developed som
of them already-perhaps all Of ,her
to a greater or less extent Many
man has discovered, when put to III
teN that he po,se,sed these nualitis