Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-18
Home Reading Course For
Citizen Soldiers

(Eeries OF Instructive lessons issued
TO The Herald by the war department
and all rights to reprint r~eserved.)
The National Army, in which you
are 70 take your place, truly express
esathe American character n IDEAL
Il is q great democratic army. y In
and education, chosen through fair
and open selection by lot. All are
brought together on terms of equality.
There has been and there Will be IN
this great National Army no favorit-
ism and no quill The p60rsman will
drill side by side with the a who
has been raised In luxury. Each Will
learn from the other. The place each
man makes for himself will DO de-
termined by his own work and ability.
Developing soldierIy Qualities.
The question as to whether it is bet
ter Z o Join the colors now or with q
later contingent Is not worth arguing,
since the decision has been made for
each man by lot, An ambitious man,
however. will be clad to join now. II
gives him a better chance for promo
ton. The commissioned officers Of the
hrst contingent are picked men who
have voluntarily gone through the
hardest kind Of training. The officers
Of later contingents will be drawn
largely from the men enlisted In the
opportunity here for every man to use
his brains and his energy and TO earn
promotion according to his worth. This
does not msan easy or quick advance
mont. It means only that You will
your fair chance-and you would
ask for nothing more-to develop
yourself and to climb upward step by
step.
In order to make good in the Ma
flonal Army you must, first OF all, Mt
yourself TO carry with credit the sim
pie title Of american Citizen-Soldier-
one Of the proudest titles In the
world. This means that 0 must de-
gelop In yourself the qualities Of a SOL
der. The more quickly and thoroughly
you cultivate them, the greater will be
your satisfaction and success.
There ts very little real difference
Of %ba opinion IN OF has q f. + s soldte sG 20 qualities aIisa :;
experience. Weapons change, but the
soldiers who handle the weapons re-
main much the same.
Three Basic Qualities.
There are three basic qualities, with
out which no man IAN be a real SOL
dier even though he may temporarily
wear a uniform. They are:
Loyalty,
Obedience.
Physical Fitness.
A man without these qualities is in
the way and is @ source of weakness
to an army, both in the camp and on
the field of battle.
The Articles Of War Of the United
States set forth the military crimes
which are punishable by heavy penal
ties. Among. these crimes Ire deser-
ton, cowardice. INSTRUMENTATION.
drunkenness while on duty, sleeping
whtle on duty as a sentinel, disclosing
the watchword, and giving aid or COM
fort to the enemy. Run YER this list
and you will see that every n Of
these military crimes can result only
from the absence Of one Or more Of
the three basic qualities of q soldier.
Loyalty.
A soldiers loyalty governs, frst Of
all, his feelings and actions toward his
country, his government and his flag.
can be no such thing as half
way loyalty. The slightest compromise
opens the door to treason
But a soldiers loyalty does not stop |
here. It governs also his feelings and
actions toward the army and toward
al the officers under whom he serves.
~ So "oSSAASSAyG stt tOAUiAS z A~&SOUOuhOIC0
both officers and enlisted men,
or disrespect toward those in anthori-
ty.
Going a. step farther. loyalty gov.
orns also the soldiers feelings and
actions toward his own regiment, his
own company and <hls own squad.
Without this form Of loyalty there can
be no real comradship; without 1t you
will never feel that personal pride and
in the service which
should mean so much in your army
life.
Obedience.
The second of the soldiers basic
qualities Is obedience, based on discip-
line. Without obedience and discipline
an army. cam not long continue to ex-
list; 1T will quickly degenerate into an
armed mob. AS the Infantry Drill Req
ulations put 1t, discipline is "the dis
ttnguishing mark Of trained troops.
Frequently the recruit, with his IN
born dislike of being bossed, makes
the mistake during his farst few weeks
in the army Of r~esenting the fact tina.
and unqlestioning obedi-
ence is required of him. He quickly
learns, however, that obedience en-