Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-08-28
AMBULANCE Man
FACED WAR PERlLS
On Several Occasions Mar
r0wly Escaped Death.

rowIy Escaped Death.
T0BPEOOES MISSED SHIP
e. II. Mccraton, Veteranized by His
Expsrisnes, Wants to Fight Now IN.
der old GIory-says That Not Even
| Dead Are Permitted to Rest In Their
Graves In This Awful War.
In the hope Of winning an officer
commission at Plattsburg Edward
Howard McCrahon, twenty-four years
old, Of Brooklyn, has arrived home aft,
er serving since last May as an ambu.
lance driver for the American Red
| Cross on the French front.
ever since America entered the
war;" said young McCrahon, u have
felt that could serve my country
better on the actual fighting line
rather than driving an ambulance
That is why am now here in an en-
deavor to win commission that ! may
return to the other side and help in
| the battle for world freedom and de.
mocracy."
Before starting for the fighting front
last. April McCrahon was an inspector
for the Acme Die Casting corporation
Of Brooklyn. He brought back with
him wealth Of stories of the fighting
on the French front.
His First Thrill.
McCrahon was hardly started on his
military career before he saw action.
He sailed on the French liner ROcham-
beau on April q. Sixty miles off the
French coast, while standing with a
group Of men at the port rail, he sight
ed periscope. Almost at the same
instant the wake Of a torpedo was
seen. The ship was swung over, and
the torpedo passed about fifty feet
astern. The submarine submerged, but
again came to the surface, only to meet
q yolley of shells from the stern guns
Of the Rochambeau. A second torpedo
passed harmlessly by. Wireless calls
for help brought French destroyers on
the scene, and the submarine disap-
peared. a,y3
There is plenty Of action driving
an ambulance" said McCrahon, "but
am husky and in the flush Of health.
and I think can serve better In an
actual fighting unit A man slightly
crippled can drive an ambulance quite
as well as a man with full physical
qualifications. l think men slightly In
jured should be given the jobs. Of driy-
Ing am hsss aRees while these hesetef q bic
to do 90 take up the burden Of real
fighting. III
Il arrived in Bordeaux on April 30
and went Immediately to Paris, where
I was made an ambulance driver.
After Americas entry into the war
asked for my release from the ambu-
lance corps, and it was granted. I was
discharged July %. In that short time
/ saw enough to realize the horrors OF
modern warfare"
Confsssss He Was Scared.
McCrahon has the courage to con-
| TESS that on several occasions he was
scared.
Scared? should say l was. But
that creepy feeling which may be de-
scribed as fright gradually wears OF.
Perhaps the experience which got my
nerve more than any other was gas
attack. With my assistant, a chap
named Witzel of Newark. we were
on the road, at the wheel driving.
when four poilus popped out Of the
night and yelled Gas! shook like a
leaf. l was semiparalyzed. But l
pulled myself together and awakened
! Witzsel Just In time to don our gas
| masks. A few more seconds and we
would have had our lungs full Of the
deadly stun. The gas attack lasted
over half an hour. sweeping the whole
region.
II had another close call Nearly
dead of thirst from driving over dusty
roads, took a chance on n drink from
a roadside well. although we had been
advised against 1t. Nausea seized me
almost Immediately, and l was fright
fully weakened. was carried to a
hospital, where lowered between life
and death for eleven days. l owe my
recovery to the untiring attention of a
Miss Levy, a trained nurse at one of
the French base hospitals.
Usually in gas attacks warning is
given by shrill blasts of horn. Shell
lodging comes as matter Of course.
Those used to the song OF the shells
can. tell almost within a few feet Of
where they will fall. The size Of the
shell can also be determined BY its
shrek.
II must say 4 kind word for the
French officers. No matter what the
surrounding conditions may be, they
are always the perfection Of courtesy.
| There seems To be a spirit of common