The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-11-23
South Bend Man Is Hero Of
Initial Action by the
Americans.
GEORGIAN GIVES The ORDER
indiana Sergeant Pulls the Lanyard
Which Starts Perskino's Attack
on the kaiser's Armies
Americans All Eager
for Action.

American Field Headquarters In
France.-Indiana and Georgia divide
the honor OF having inaugurated Amer
lca's land warfare against the Ger
mans.
A sergeant from South Bend, Ind.
pulled the lanyard to send the first
shell tearing across the valley in the
direction Of the German positions.
A Georgia lieutenant gave the order
fret"
The facts were established during
the first visit paid by a correspond
int to the first American battle front.
The correspondent reached the
American position after a long motor
tide through shell-battered towns.
Leaving the motor in one of the towns,
he walked the rest Of the way.
The first American battery was al
| most walked upon before 1t was dis
covered. 1t was so well hidden under
the trees and with foliage about it on
4 low-hung wire netting.
Gun Of rs caiiber Used.
Through the foliage In every direc-
! ton the ground was u%ndulating. At
that moment there was a flash Of flame
through the mist. It was the crack
Of a rs gun, and following 1t closely
! came the noise Of the shell rushing
through the air, becoming fainter and
fainter as the projectile went on its
way to the German position over the
crest Of a hill farther away. The mud
| digging artillerists continued their
work without even looking up.
A lieutenant from Georgia emerged.
He was the officer who directed the
first shot. He led the way down the
slippery, muddy hill TO a dugout COW
cred over with sandbags and logs.
There was met a lieutenant from Indi-
ana OF the anne battery who directed
the first Is shots OF the wal against
Germany from an observation point.
On the other side OF the hill was
found the first gun fired. The muddy
gunners were hard at work cleaning
their gun.
This was the first gun fired In the
war;" the jaunty lieutenant said. 1.-THE
sergeant inside the pit there fired it."
Looking into the pit, the lieutenant
said Sergeant. where are you from?"
He's From South Bend.
A husky voice replied: I'm from
South Bend, Ind"
Are you Irish?' asked the lieuten-
ant.
mo, sir" the sergeant l~aughingly
replied.
At this time orders came for this
gun and others Of the battery placed
in nearby hills In sight and sound of
each other to firing. The
| gun on the farthest hill went off with
n roar and a faint stream Of smoke
was blown backward from the pit.
Inside the pit In which the corre-
spondent stood n voice shouted out
the range figures and the lieutenant
repeated them. A voice inside the pit
a moment later yelled that the gunner
was ready to fire. The lieutenant gave
the command to the gunners: "Watch
your bubble"
on a pile of mud which had been re-
moved from the pit, cautioned those
about him to place their fingers in
their ears. This was done and the
lieutenant shouted the word "Fire!"
The gun barked quickly. the noise
being followed by a metallic clank and
the shell case vas elected and the gun
made ready for the next load. The
lieutenant told the correspondent the
story OF the first shot of the war, pune
tuating the narrative throughout with
the orders ready to fire." and ''fre."
which each time was followed by the
report Of the gun and the whizz Of
the shell.
I'VE came up the night before" the
lieutenant said. land got into position
In q driving rain. No horses had ar
rived. ! was anxious to get OF the
first gun and SO were my men. I
asked them II they were willing to
haul the gun by hand to this place 40
that we could get the first crack ut the
Germans. They agreed unanimously,
SO we set out across the fields until we
got over there at the base OF that hill
you can just see In the haze.
Hours to Prepare Gun.
1--WE had q hard time getting the
gun. which W. have not named yet,
over those shell craters. But we Ia
bored for many hours and finally
reached the spot. Then | got permits
| sion to fire.
strictly speaking. the first shot,
which was In the nature Of q tryout
for the gun. simply went into Ger
many. The sergeant put a high explo-
sive shell there at 6:15 o'clock In the
morning"
!. Another officer here took up the mar
rative.
II was In an observation point" he
said. ''There was q fog US the first
shot went singing over. Suddenly the
fog lifted and ! saw a group OF Ger
mans. ! directed my gun at them. The
/ shrapnel burst overhead aud they tool
q dive Into the ground like 90 many
snbblts."
The lieutenant Rrinned broadly.