El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-06-30

a man watering a lawn with a garden
hose. and they were bound to ge
some of US. Behind me, / heard erie.
OF pain and groans, but IT made little
impression on my benumbed intel
ligence, from the mere fact tha'
whatever had happened had hap
pened to one of the other section;
of ten and not TO my own 1t seemed
some way or another, no affair Il
concern me-
COmrade Is shot Down.
Then a man in front of me doubled
up suddenly and rolled into a shell
hole. That simply made me remember
very clearly that L was not to stop
on account of it. It was some one
else's business to pick that man up
chology of battle, I began to lose my
sensation of fear and nervousness
After / saw second man go down,
/ 1 gave my attention principally to a
I consideration of the Irregularities of
/ the German parapet ahead of u.s.
I picking out the spot where We were
to enter the trench. II seems silly to
say it, but 1 seemed to get some sort
l of satisfaction out Of the realization
that We had lost the percentage
which We might be expected to lose.
going over. Now, il seemed the rest
reach the next phase Of our under
! taking 1 heard directions given and
gave some myself Ny voice was
firm; it surprised me, and l felt al
most calm
Barbed Wire Torn Up.
Our artillery had SO torn up the
German barbed wire that il gave US
no trouble at all We walked through
il with only few scratches. When
We reached the low sand bag para
pet Of the enemy trench. We tossed
in a few bombs and followed them
ploded- There wasn't a German in
sight. They were all in their dug
outs But We knew pretty well
where every dugout was located, and
We rushed for the entrances, with
our bombs Everything seemed to
be going just as we had expected
it to go. Two Germans ran plump
into me as l was rounding a ditch
angle with bomb in my hand. They
had their hands up and each of them
yelled
Mercy. Kamarad."
I passed them back TO be sent TO
the rear, and the man who received
them from me chuckled and told them
TO move lively.
German Trenches Not Strange.
The German trenches were practi-
cally Just as we had expected to find
them, according 10 our sample They
were so nearly similar to the dupli-
cate section in which we had prac-
ticed that we had no trouble finding
our way in them. I was just think
Of the job. remaining. would be get
ting back across No Mans Land.
when il seemed that the whole earth.
behind me. rose in the air For
moment / was stunned. and half
blinded by dirt blown into my face
When was able to see, I discov-
cred that all which lay behind me
was a mass OF upturned earth and
rock. with here and there a man
shaking himself or scrambling out
of il or lying still.
Just two minutes after We went
into their trench. the Germans had
exploded a mine under their parapet.
have always believed that in some
way or another they had learned
what spot We We're TO raid. and had
or not. one thing is certain. That
mine blew our organization as we
would say in Kentucky. plumb TO
hell" And il killed or disabled more
than half Of our party
Great Confusion.
There vas much confusion among
those OF US who remained on our
feet Some one gave an order to re-
tire and some one countermanded it
More Germans came out of their dug
outs. but instead of surrendering as
per our original schedule. they threw
snt that we would be killed or cap
tured IL We stuck there and that we
wouldn't get any more prisoners l
looked at my wrist watch and saw
that there remained but five min
utes more OF the time which had
trench. so l blew my whistle and
started back
had seen private Green (No. H.
25O) knocked down by a bomb in
the next section, and / picked him
up and carried him out over the |
wrecked parapet. 1 took shelter with 1
him in the first she'll hole. but l
found that he was dead and left him 4
there a few yards further back /
toward our line 1 found lance cor
poral Glass. in a shell hole. with I
part of his hip shot away. He said /
helped him. and I started with him.
Private Hunter. who had been in a /
neighboring shell hole. came to our i
assistance. and. between US. Hunter
and I got Glass to our front trench
Unable TO Recognize Dead.
We found them lining up the sur
rivors OF our party for roll call.
That show ed SO many missing that
Maj Lewis. formerly OF the Montreal
Star. called for volunteers to go out
some OF our men, Corporal Char
esOn, private Saunders and 1 went
1ut We brought in two wounded,
and We saw a number OF dead. but,
1n account OF their blackened faces.
we're unable to recognize them The
scouts. later, brought in several
bodies.
Of the so odd men who had started
n our party, IS were found to be
:asUalties-killed. wounded or miss
ng. The missing list was the long
st The names of those men we're
marked m b. k" (missing. believed
killed. on our rolls. I have learned
;ince that some few of them have
been reported through Switzerland
Is prisoners of war in Germany, but
most OF them are now officially list
ID as dead.
Memory Prevents Sleep.
All Of the survivors of the raiding
,arty were sent 20 miles to the rear
Il o'clock, and the non commits
toned officers were ordered to make
reports in writing concerning the
ntire operation. We recorded each
n his own way. the CHASTITY failure ]
4 our first aggressive effort against
he Germans. before We rolled into
he hay in the same old barn where
Ie had been CHARTERED during the
lays Of preparation for the raid. 1 I
vas so dead tired that ! soon fell Z
sleep. but not for long. never
lept more than an hour at a time !
or several days and nights II
you'd dOEe off from sheer exhaustion ! 5
nd then suddenly find myself sit {
ing straight up, scared half to death,
II over again.
There may be soldiers who don't ]
ct scared when they know they are 5
q danger or even when people are |
eing killed right around them, but \
m not one of them And I've never