The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1917-11-24


training stations, the ships which patrol the
coast lines, in the submarines which move about
hundred feet below the surface of the water,
and on the great battleships on the high seas
Thanksgiving day is to be observed it never
before has been by the boys and who
dedlcatng their lives to Americas cause It will
not be merely Il day of pleasures, of
stufffng oneself with foods to please the taste;
rather it will be day of mental inspiration of
a spiritual qualification, of thoughts of home and
those who dear.
Ia a general way the stories of how Thanksgiv-
ing is observed in the two branches of the Amer
lean fighting forces do not differ. Soldiers who
are yet in this country will perhaps be given fur
iOughs so that they can be with their families or
other relatives Thanksgiving day. Sailors and
marines who detailed to the training stations
may be invited out for the day they may gather
in the big mess halls for a program. But the lads
who far away from their loved Ones those
who the high will experience a feel
ing entirely to them. And it is going to have
tremendously important influence, too Per-
haps you have wondered some time or other why
the tight-ftting blouse. the black handkerchief,
and his saucy little white cap seem to give the
jackie a more youthful appearance than the khaki
olive 1rab do to the soldier
1t is not a deception resulting from q marked
difference in the uniforms. Rather this apparent
boytsh appearance of the jackies in comparison
with the soldiers is reality. The jackies are
just boys-the brightest youth of America, who,
before they have attained their manhood, are
offering their lives to make this country secure
out the world.
A spirit of youth permeates the United States
navy-an atmosphere which perhaps is not to be
found in the army. Most of the boys, who are
being trained to the battleships and the
majority of those who already have met the Ger
man fleet in battles, are scarcely out of their
teens E1ere is q fascination for the sea. for the
experience of moving about on the waters and be-
ing constantly danger of attack from beneath
the sea by hostile ships-a something which
holds peculiar charm for American youth And
so it is that the American navy is composed Of
a great host of young men-yOuth who seek adj
venture, those who eager to avenge the ter
rfble atrocities wrought by Germany.
Months have passed since many of these young
tackles transformed in incredibly short time
from sehoolboys to fighting men-o'wars' men, left
their mothers and their fathers TO join other
youths in protecting country from the raw
ages of barbarian foe. Their activities have
been strenuous that few have had the time or
the inclination to mediate about their honeS- But
all of these boys have been separated from their
own people long enough TO give them sincere
longing to visit again hometown and to see mother
Men of the army better able TO combat
feeling of homesfckness than the jackies can be-
cause the soldiers have come, a general rule
from the offices, from the cares of business, from
colleges and from situations which have in their
very nature separated the men, more or less,
from their family interests. Should this state
ment sound exaggerated and false let me amend
it somewhat The soldiers probably are more
accustomed TO absence from home than are the
sailor boys, most OF ulIeCliS I4OiH
influence of their mothers and who all by
themselves for the first time in their careers, con-
fronting some of the bigger problems of life.
And so it is that this Thanksgiving the many
thousands of American boys who are fighting in
the first line of defense are going to experience
great mental awakening-a spiritual change
which might not have to them under normal
conditions until they much older In years
and experience 1t will be perhaps their first
Thanksgiving day on which they have actually
taken the time TO mediate over the blessings for
which they should give thanks.
The boys probably have not previously had
cason to appreciate the home influence. They
will rejoice in the knowledge that the United
States now has navy which measures up to the
hest in the world They will be glad because they