The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1917-04-05
A. PATREAU HERE
FROM FRENCH FRONT

Tears of untold Joy welled in the ewes
of Mr.. and Mrs. A. Patreau, of the Mt.
Hood district last Thursday night.
when they were aroused from their
sleep, filled perhaps with dreams of
battlefields, to answer knock at their
homestead home. The alarm at the
doorstep at the home in the quiet rural
community was sounded by their son,
A. Patreau, Jr., just returned from
France, where he fought for two years
in the trenches.
hospital The young man accompany
ing % other Americans returning from
service in the Allied armies, reached
New York on Thursday night March 22.
After rest from the sea journey he
started Immediately for his Oregon
home.
Armand Patreau Jr. whose father
and mother natives of France reside
on a homestead in the Middle Valley
was the honored guest of the people Of
Hood River Thursday night. Armand
Patreau, the younger, returned the
evening before on leave of absence
from the trenches of France. He came
quietly not seeking notoriety nor the
plaudits of his fellow Americans
whether they were actuated by their
own new born feeling of patriotism or
by curiosity. The young American
citizen who has been doing his bit in
the armies of France, had but one
thought, and that was to get as soon
as possible to the simple home of his
father and mother, for his homecom.
ing was surprise for them. He was
told that roads to the remote Upper
Valley community of his parents were
so bad that an automobile could not
carry nearly all of the distance. But
that did not deter young Patreau, and
after he had been set down by the
motor car Thursday night, the returned
soldier walked six miles through the
darkness to tap at the door of his old
home.
Hood River had planned for patri-
otic meeting Friday night. The home-
coming of youg Patreau, known to the
people of the Middle Valley and many
of the older residents of the city as a
little French boy whose English, with
its quaint foreign infection was pleas
ant to listen to, was learned. 1t was
decided to invite him to come and de-
liver an address. Still tired from his
long journey across the Atlantic and
the continent, and hungry for the SOL
ltude of his rural home, young Pat
reau tried gracefully to decline, but
when told that he might stimulate an
interest on the part of local young men
in doing their duty for their country,
he accepted the invitation. When an
Indirect appeal to his sense of duty was
made, the boy who has fought and bled
in the trenches of the great overseas
war responded instantly.
Armand Patreau, Jr., was the guest
of banquet at the Mt. Hood Hotel.
Twenty four of the prominent business
men of the city gathered to shake his
hand and hear him talk. 81 haven't
any clothes to wear" he said, when
he was invited to be the guest of the
Hood River men. II only have my
old uniform and my helmet. And so
he came, and men of this town have
never listened more eagerly to conver-
sation. But first of all young Patreau
is a soldier and has learned the lesson
of discipline. Until the great war in
Europe is over, he says his lips are
sealed on some of the most absorbing
topics.
II am pledged not to tell of anything
that may get back to our enemy" he
says. II might tell you of some of
these things of which know. and they
might seem to you of no great conse-
quence, even should they be known,
but | follow the orders that have
received.
Within ID days after France had de-
cared war on the imperial armies OF
Germany, young Patreau was enlisted
for Franche. He served for time in
Red Cross corps. At the time he
had barely turned his majority.
1T was frightful work., he says,
that of gathering up the manned and
the dying. Many and many times
have | had men tell me to kill them
and put them out of their misery, and
often it would perhaps have been an
act of humanity, but | told the poor
sufferers that it was my duty to get
them to the hospital, and listening to
their moaning and my companions
bore them to the rear"
Then young Patreau became men,
Der of machine gun company OF a
regiment of infantry. On the right
sleeve of his coat he wears inverted
chevrons, the sign of two wounds.
For three months he was in hospital.
THE most terrible of my expert
ences," says the returned boy, have
been with the poison gas fired by the
German soldiers. One time | saw II
companions, as they slept fill their
lungs with the deathly vapor and die
in an instant. happened to-be awake
and saw the approach of the ghostly
mist that men in the trenches fear
more than exploding shells or the bull
lets of machine guns. Before / could
give an alarm it was on us. | barely
had time to adjust nv mask. The
German army has three kinds, OF
poison gas, understand. Some of It
is visible, while other kinds cannot be
seen and are thus more deadly. The
French government has manufactured
such death dealing fighting apparatus,
but its use has not been permitted.
I'VE soldiers, before entering the
trenches are all given a gas tent. With
our helmets on we ara made to enter q
room filled with gas, not poison. but
fatal, if too much of it is inhaled and
no aid given. The test is given both
to try out the masks and to test the
vitality of the wearer."
II find a great love and admiration
for Americans in the rank of the
French army. They think this most
magnificent land. Yet they do not be,
lieve we can best serve the ends OF
defeating Germany by actively par
ticipating in the fight. They want us
to furnish food and money, and France
has the men to carry on the battles.
1t is my belief that victory. for. the
allies will come this fall, and believe
the western lines will be the first to be
crushed. | have heard that the opinion
expressed in this country that the
French people are going hungry. This
is a mistake. OF course every econ