Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-07-20

Ii is awarded to the private the
II general. the second class seaman
<&XS6SN fireman to the rear admiral for
~ We extraordinary courage. valor surpass
& M ing even that which is expected from
" ~ the well-trained seasoned soldier or
&e sailor. No matter how hazardous
duty well performed. that is not
enough. To win the medal something more than
Is demanded by duty must be achieved
Unlike some of the European decorations for
bravery. the American Medal of Honor is
difficult for an officer To win than for an enlisted
man. because more is expected Of an officer.
The medal Is a bit of bronze suspended from a
ribbon. Its Intrinsic value. be II what IL may, il
OF no Importance. Into the metal disk welded
all the qualities OF man which men admire
worship. In the archives of the department
are succinct. unimaginative records of the acts
which caused the medal to be pinned To the
breasts of the men who have won 1t. The papers
win yellow and crumble, the ribbons will rot to
dust. the bronze itself will cOrrOde and vanish,
but the things the medal stands for will go on and
the epic of the Medal of Honor will continue he
inscribed i'm the hearts of men,
There Is doubt the Medal Of Honor will he
won in this war; but it will not be won easily.
and though millions may he fighting under the
American flag Ii VIII come to but few to wear this
distinguishing mark In the Spanish war less
than 20 medals were awarded. In the Philippines
few given.
scented tn Sergt. Maj Roswell Winans and Cor
poral Joseph A. CLOWN of the marine corps. for
their work at the battle of Guayacanes in Santo
Domingo II Is the act itself which wins the
medal for a man, and not only does his rank
matter not at ALL but he may win II In Skin
mish or I'm a battle like that of Gettysburg Of
the Marine.
The report of the board of investigation for the
navy department in their case follows. "On July
3. 1916 the Twenty eighth company of marines
was engaged with the Dominican armed forces mt
the battle of Guayacanes During a running fight
OF 200 yards our forces reached the enemy in
trenchment and Corporal Joseph CLOWN placed
the machine gun of which he had charge behind
large log across the road and Immediately
opened fire on the trenches He struck once
hut continued firing his gun. but n moment later
he was again struck and had to be dragged out
of the position into cover. Sergt Roswell Winans.
u. s. NJ. c.. then arrived with Colts gun, which
he placed In n most exposed position and coolly
spened fire on the trenches, and when the gun
damned he stood up and repaired II under fire.
All the time CLOWN and Winans were handling
their guns they exposed to very heavy
fire which was striking into the logs and around
the men, seven men being wounded and one killed
within 20 feet. Sergeant Winans continued fir
ing his gun until the enemy had abandoned the
trenches"
Sergeant Winan's story in his words is
even more modest than the official report, al
though Il Is more vivid and picturesque.
On the morning of July g." he said. Eve got
under way with every feeling like a
man. Firing the advance guard began early
in the day. Our captain obtained permission To
take our platoon forward. We kept the guns
the carriages until within few yards of the fir
ing line. then transferred them to the tripods and
Immediately opened fire. The enemy using
mostly old-fashioned breechloaders with big lead
slugs.
The brush very thick on both sides of
the road Jams were frequent with us and each
gun out a couple of shell extractors Diff
Guilty had been experienced all along with
ammunition. Some of il dated back rs far as
1907. II had evidently been reloaded many times.
I'VE found 1t good policy to change barrels in
case Of jam in the chambers. In that way
would be only minute out of action. A party
of the enemy were seen up the road and Corporal
johnson started to put his gun in action. A big
lead slug (tin cans. we called them) came
ricocheting down the road directly for us. John
son saw II while kneeng behind his gun. He
ducked almost prone. hut the thing took a long
skip and hit him in the jaw. passed down and
lodged back of the shoulder.
THE gun crews promptly gave the place where
the shot was fired n good combing We continued
10 advance under OF the bushes and trees.
A battalion of infantry deployed Skin
mishers each side of the road and We were
concealed by turn in the road and high trees
and bushes.
Directly across the road was a huge log. At
our end of the log Benet- Mercier had just
menced roaring, with Corporal Clowns in com
mand of IL.
butt of the tree II had no sooner opened up
than all the bullets In the world seemed coming
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.