Trench and camp. ([Admiral, Md.) 1917-1919, 1917-12-19
BY HOWARD KAHN
A port I'm France (By Mail)

A QUE6 Ala GE&4C0 10y 0An0y
When the transport -- sails
from this harbor in q few days, It
will carry the happiest boy In the.
world. That is the way he charac-
terizes himself. ! would call him the
nerviest boy in the world.
His name Is Aubrey Mcleod. He
is q farmer student at Purdue UNI
versity, q resident OF Boston, and he
served in an Indiana battery on the
Mexican border last year.
All OF which has nothing to do
with why he 10 the happiest and the
nerviest boy in the world.
When histories of the present war
are written, Aubrey McLeod's name
will go down 90 the first American
casualty. The air raid on Base Hos
pital No.. which resulted In the
death ef Lieut.. Fitxsimmons Of the
medical corps and three privates
early I'm July, injured Mcleod 30 seri-
ously that his two legs had to be ann
putated six inches above the knees.
This much has been briefly mention
ed In Official newspaper dispatches.
But nothing has been said about Nc
Leod hinaself or his hopes for the flu
ture.
I met q hospital sergeant ON o
train bound for this port the other
day. Were taking Aubrey Mcleod
home," he said. would you like to
see HINT"
I was not sure. had seen . lot
OF French and German "mutil6s" dur
Ing four months at the French front.
and the memory OF some of them
was still with me. I did not know
whether wanted to see pale-faced.
drawn and suffering American. had
known some Of McLeod's friends on
the Mexican border last summer,
however, and thought some news Of
them might cheer him lot.
/ entered. his compartment. Two
| soldiers were there. Both were
hearty. red-cheeked, fresh-looking
Americans. neither Of whom appeared
to have known what O days illness
meant. where's McLeod?" I asked.
His First Glimpse Of Mcleod
my name'is Mcleod" replied one
Of them smiling.
Then l noticed that the lower part
Of his body was covered with O rug.
II the American wounded and the
American people accept their miSfOr-
L
cepted his, the receipt Of the long
casualty lists which are sure to come
Will cause NO alarm as to American
morale.
Looking for Q sick mani" laughed
Mcleod. reading my thoughts.
There's nobody sick around here. ]
may get little seasick in q few days.
but there won't be anything serious
about it."
"Just what happened"
"a feet Of Boche planes. They
dropped six bombs. One Of 'em got
me. Now I'm minus two legs"
Mcleod said all this with q smile
on his face.
II had been on guard. Somebody
relieved me. and lay down for some
sleep. / heard q c0mmotion and
jumped to my feet. Two bombs went
OF and knew 1t was an air raid.
Then a third exploded very near to
me. Another man In my unit began
yelling. help me- and / saw that he
was wounded. Then / looked down
and eaw that my right leg was al
most cut IN two. didn't feel .
bit Of pain, but / began yelling too
| just like the other fellow was doing.
remember the colonel ran In and
looked ct ms and held me. up until
two men came With Q stretchef."
''Nex&~ thing knew was when !
woke MP the following day. / re-
membered about my right Leg dang
ling ~ If ready to drop OF. reached
down and found that It was gone.
Then / reached for my left Leg. It
was gone t@O."
Please remember that Mcleod was
not telling this with tragedy in his
voice. There were no signs, no self
pity. There was merely an air Of sat
MISREPRESENTATION at having
done his duty. He did not show the
least Indication that he considered
that he had done more.
Tells Of Loss Of Both Legs
II called for my NURSE" he con-
tinued, land / remember that I had
q long argumeat with her before I
sank on to sleep again. told her
that she had promised they
wouldn't amputate my leg, and here
they had amputated both Of them.
told her that / thought it was not
fair to be lied to like that. Bat. tAaEo
was no heaRt-bTeaking Hea1iWnkanm
that was cripple for Life. { wa
too full OF morphine for nd. md
| by the time the moeph4mq ha0 wuRQ
Ion / suppose I had 9G8 lprlS1ne
about the fuenAN
asw;~II Pm aoaMx howa. f%nmt IN