Newark post. (Newark, Del.) 1910-1969, 1918-07-17
LOQUENT FRENCHlNAN
VISITS DELAWARE
ESPRIT OF AMERICA SUS7AINS MORALE OF
FRENCH ARMY

% hear Lieutenant Paul Perigord,
II the French army, pronounced in
bfficial circles at Washington per-
MAPS the best war speaker from
|Mover there" in America. Lieu
tenant Perigord was the last speak
Yer at the Win-the-War Conference
&held at the Playhouse, Wilmington
Hast Wednesday, July 10th. The
espeaker in the field uniform of the
Wrench army, wore upon his breast
4 the Cross of Honor, won on the
Fields of Europe, and bar, bear
hing six stars. He said in part:
"Only one thing matters today
Tour cause-our common cause. But
eyour appreciation and affection l
/ gather up jealousy to send across
Ito our boys.
u There is one story | have been
fasked by your Secretary of War to
tell" Lieutenant Perigord said,
*'because he tells me that American
2boys everywhere want to enlist,
but they want to enlist as officers.
TELL them how you won your COM
nission,' he said. And | tell it, not
with pride but humility" the Lieu
kenant declared. eff ! had any
Feeling at all, it would be shame
#rather than pride, for a French
man would rather die than surren-
Her his soil"
Il In graphic language the speaker
6escribed the bloody charge in
(which he participated early in the
3Ear. "Out of sixty-fve officers in
g bur regiment" he said, "only two
IRE now on active duty. Forty-two
8|pf these have been killed, and the
: Fest are crippled. The charge to
which | refer was early in the war,
hnd the army had not learned how
e cope with a gas attack. A wave
IF gas inveloped my company.
when the cloud lifted we found
&hat every officer had been killed.
rushed to the side of my dying
- kaptain, who placed this sword in
/hy hand, and said, 'Perigord, lead
Ehe company The commission
khus given me by my captain was
later confirmed by the proper
authorities.
4 II bring as my message tonight"
kieutenant Perigord continued,
the warmest greetings of the
0rench army, that valorous body
bho saved the liberties of the
!, torld at the Marine and 1pres,
Feeding from a thousand wounds,
bid looking longingly at the man
bod here; without uttering a
rord, yet all the time filled with a
kar that their sacrifice might have
zen in VAN.
"But, behold, one morning new
ag came into the trenches. There
kere stars on that flag. A great
bout arose: Long live, long live
i United States!' 1t was the
Dice of heroes, from every town
! BID city, from every corner in
aich there is liberty, speaking
We and gratitude to the American
kople. A happy day it was to me
hen | saw the Stars and Stripes
bove the trenches"
lieutenant Perigord, a French
*iest, had come to America when
lance in 1914, declared war. He
It Immediately for his home land,
Id enlisted as a private. "The
" l left New York." he said, "a
In prominent in the life of the
" gave me a small American flag.
thousands will follow it. he said.
1T we waited long and the flags
b not come. BE patient | al
hys answered to my compatriots,
patient, they are coming | be-
we'd the day in which you knew
truth you would come to us in
S holy crusade. !, therefore,
ng tonight the warmest en-
\ ice of the French nation. France
q ks upon this nation as her
4 ritual child. France has loved
excess; France has always rush
4 to the rescue of any nation
j hting for freedom.
\ But France had been dreaming
4 ANS of peace. She was unpre-
u ed for war; the wall of her
a breasts crumbled. The world
a ID aghast. Then the miracle of
= lcles happened. Joffre appear
al the Marine. Now, my boy, it
ii ctory or DEATH he said. 1t
" the dawn of a new day-the
pf the Marine that will never
utenant Perigord paid trib-
the French women who give
France. "For three years, "
bid, "they have lain in the