South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-09-28
FOREIGN LEGION
IN j. s. FORCES
Seven NatiOnaIitieS Repre-
Sented in One of Companies
in PerShing'S Army.

- or the regiment infantry Of
the American expeditIonary force
has a foreign legion OF its own Two
Russians. two Greeks. one Turk.
one Swede and a Norwegian. head
ed ~ an Irish acknowledgements.
make up the companys Jacobs
coat.
None Of the seven can speak
English sufficiently well TO drill with
the company Accordingly. Sergt.
Murphy each day leads his squad
TO its own little parade grounds un-
derneath some w.de-spreading trees
and puts them through their PAGES.
Sure they're nOthin' 10 brag
about when / only talk TO them.
said the sergeant, "but when I show
them what's TO be done faith. sair.
there's not quicker set Of lads i'm
the whole company. I'm rot braC
gin. mind YOU. but I'm only sayiu'
they're as fine a drilled squad as
Gen. Pershing has with him today
Forget 10 salute.
Take salutin for instance Some
Of these fresh rockies. just because
once I'm a while they mistake one of
YOU soldierly looliH' correspondents
Tor an officer. and come TO neat
salute. and some grizzly old cam
1igner gives them a merry ma Ia.
itev crouch about for a day or more
@ nd salute no one Then along
comes the colonel in his auto and
these bright boys don't even deicn
70 notice him and the company gets
the devil in the morning.
Put these lads of mine. they say
What difference does il make any
how, If you waste a salute or two:
let's play il safe. and so every one
who comes strolling along. be it one
of our long cared friends from Mis-
souri, or perfectly sweet little
French lady. or even the general
himself. surt IT'S heels at attention
they are with as fine a military sa-
lutte as any bloomin' Prussian ever
gave the war lord
And where they make smart
Sammy from Oshkosh look sharp is
when one of these French instruc-
tors tells us in machine-fre French
Just what we are to do and why.
the seven tribes seem to sense the
meaning and are the first TO catch
any new trick the Trenches teach
us.
Learn English Fast
And they're learning English
fast Yesterday ] heard Mike. the
Greek. tell a Milwaukee corporal,
Run after yourself Me prounder
hsinea the shoe that make up Ger
man beer in de bot Amt dot your
job at the brewery
This is the same boy who when
he passed an officer on the street
the first day after we had landed
didn't know enough to salute, and
the officer halted him and said.
; My man. how long have you been
in the service?' Mike pulled him
self together as best he could and
smilingly replied, Tomorrow Sure,
he didn't have an idea what the man
was asking him
No one can explain how the men
ever We're able TO pass the recruit
ing officer with their meagre knowl-
edge Of English except that in the
heat Of the recruiting campaigns all
was considered fish that came into
the net.
There are numbers of men in the
expeditionary force who have
higher sense of patriotism than they
have knowledge of the English lam
guage. A rather striking common
tary on the new alien laws that re-
uuire an immigrant to be able 70
read and write is that many Of the
tvpe now offering their lives in de-
Tense Of their new found home are
unable 10 do either.
Russian Giant.
One of the Russian giants whose
iunpronouncable name has been soft
ened by his messmates to "Kansky"
gave me as clear a reply 10 my ques-
ton. why are you over here fight
ing i'm the American army?" as I re-
ceived in the entire division.
Cropping slowly for his words he
said. Il came TO America seeking a
I liberty and freedom that was denied
me in my own country I found il
the hrst day I landed in New York.
I II became the breath Of my life.
U GOT away from r AA~~4e1 tAAANA AAAf- va
started I could see no difference
I between a car and a kaiser. There
was nothing I wanted 10 fight for.
"But when America was forced
7 into the struggle saw il had final
/ Is narrowed itself down 20 what
Pres't Wilson pronounced it. a ques-
ton whether democracy or autoc-
rary should rule the world. Ny life
has been n longing for personal lib
ertv I had finally tasted of it. I
know its sweetness and its value. I
was ready 10 fight so that genera
tions TO come might have the op-
portunity 10 enjoy it unmolested
America must triumph if the world
4 is 20 go forward and upward
Kansky Hero.
The ring Of the missionary was
/ in his voice: II vibrated with sup
pressed intensity. His language was
\ the talk Of books. He had chiseled
I il out OF laborious reading Better
/ educated than his six follows in
arms. he was daily teaching them
/ the rudiments OF English grammar
and America history.
Kansky is OF the stuff that heroes
/ are made. He is lighting for an ideal
I A. s,--fhT. l.