Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-21
Home Reading Course For
Citizen Soldiers

But the men OF 1853 were too good
soldiers to draw long faces. The his
torian goes on THE march was
made in high good humor. the sold
iers laughing and Joking at their ILL
luck with that comic brightness char
acteristic Of Americans in difficult
circumstances"
Three Qualities OF Battle
Finally, there are the three battle
qualities of the good soldier:
Spirit.
Tenacity,
Self-reliance.
Unless a. man has these three quail
ities-even though he possesses all
the other six in good measure-he is
after all only a campfire soldier.
Spirit.
Spirit-fghting spirits far from
being mere hatred of the enemy or
blind fury, on the hand; nor is it
mere passive obedience to orders, on
the other. It mean cool, self-con-
trolled courage-the kind Of courage
which enables a man to shoot as
in target practice. However, 1t even
goes a step beyond hat point. Deci-
sive victories cannot be won by mere
ly repulsing the enemy. ''Only the Of
fensive wins" (Infantry Drill Regu-
%lations, paragraph 511).
Like all the other qualities of q
soldier, spirit cal be cultivated. An
unframed army seldom possesses 1t.
But 1t a be developed. You can and
will develop it until it becomes as
much a part of yourself as any Of your
easy-going civilian habits are now.
Tenacity.
Spirit carries a body Of soldiers for
ward. Tenacity is the quality that
makes them stick" The thorough
soldier is never ready to stop fighting
until his part of the battle is won.
than in the words Of John Paul Jones.
Standing among his dead and wound
ed On his sinking ship which was
leaking like a basket" he replied to
his adversary's invitation to surrender,
"Sir, I have lot yet begun to fight
Two hours later the battle came to a
sudden end when the colors Of the
enemy'S vessel were hauled down.
Self Reliance.
Self-reliance is characteristic of the
American, whether he is serving as a
! soldier or in some civil occupation.
Much the same quality is sometimes
referred to as Initiative" It is a
quality needed more than eve before
in present-day warfare. Major Cen
eral Leonard Wood, in his introduce
ton to the Field Service regulations
| VI lie OlitSu OldISS dIIliys says. d 1T
"Oficers and men Of all ranks and
grades are given a certain independ-
ence in the execution of the tasks to
which they are assigned and are ex-
pected to show initiative in meeting
the different situations are they arrive,
Every Individual, from the highest
commander to the lowest private,
must always remember that inaction
and neglect Of opportunities will war
rant more severe censure than an err
ror in the choice Of the means"
Making Yourself Stronger.
The nine qualities which have just
been reviewed are those which every
one of us would like to have for him
lself. They are the essentials of virile
and successful manhood, whether In
the army or out Of it. Even the moral
weakling and the Stacker in theil
hearts admire these qualities.
Doubtless you have developed some
of them already-perhaps all of them
to a greater or less extent. Many 8
man has discovered, when put to the
test, that HI possessed these qualities
without having himself realized 1t
But under civilian conditions it is not
easy t o cultivate all of them.
In the army you will have your op.
portunity in a few months Of training
to strengthen these qualities in your.
self. In SO doing you will learn to con
ttrol yourself, to take care of yourself
under all conditions. to meet hardship
and danger unflinchingly, to be fear.
less and s~elf-reliant. At the end Of
these few months of training you will
! have gained Immensely in vigor and iT
! strength.