Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-09-18

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they, too, were officers or privates. |
The room in which found myself
contained eight beds, three of which
were occupied by wounded German Of
ficers. The other rooms, imagined,
had about the same number Of beds as
mine. There were no Red Cross nurses
in attendance, just orderlies, for this
was only an emergency hospital and
too near the firing line for nurses. The
orderlieS were not old men nor very
young boys, as had expected to find,
but young men in the prime of life,
who evidently had been medical stu
cred, were able to talk English, but
for some reason they would not talk.
Perhaps they were forbidden by the
officer in charge to do so.
In addition to the bullet wound In
my mouth had swelling from my
forehead to the back of my head al
most as big as my shoe--and that is
|
J an inch without suffering intense pain,
: and when the doctor told me that /
had no bones broken / wondered how
fellow would feel who had.
: German officers visited me that
morning and told me that my machine
went down in a spinning nose dive
from a height Of between 5000 and
1900 feet, and they had the surprise
of their lives when they discovered
that 1 had not been dashed to pieces.
!, They had to cut me out Of my machine,
which was riddled with shots and shat
! tered to bits.
A German doctor removed the bullet
9 from my throat, and the first thing he
:, said to me when I came to was, "You
q are an Americana"
y There was no denying 1t, because
the metal Identification disk on my
wrist bore the inscription:
"P. OBJ.
e q. S. A.
r. f. c."
Although I was suffering intense
. agony, the doctor, who spoke perfect
= English, insisted upon conversing with
me.
). "You may be all right as a sports
= man." he declared, "but you are a
= id murderer just the same for be-
= ing here You Americans who got into
this thing before America came into
g the war are no better than common
- murderers and you ought to be treated
=, the same wayl"
- The wound in my mouth made 1t i'm
"a possible for me to answer him, and
:, was suffering too much pain to be
y hurt very much by anything he could
al say.
: He asked me If 7 would like ar
applet I could just as easily have
eaten brick.
When he got no answers out Of me
he walked away disgustedly.
'sYou don't have to worry any more.
he declared, as parting shot. "Fol
- you the war is over"
=. I was given a little broth later IL
!, the day, and as I began to collect m!
=, thoughts I wondered what had hap
pened to my comrades in the battl
which had resulted so disastrOusly t.
me. AS I began to realize my pligh
- worried less about my physical con
~ dition than the fact that, as the doc
- tod had pointed out, for me the wa
was practically over. had been In
49, but short time, and now would b
a prisoner for the duration Of the war
az The next day some German flynn
- officers visited me. and must say the
49, treated me with great consideration
- They told me of the man had brough
- down. They said he was Bavaria
- and fairly good pilot They gave m
~ his hat as a souvenir and compliment
| ed me on the fight / had put up.
NV helmet, which was Of sol
| leather, was split from front to bac
by a bullet from a machine gun, an
| they examined it with great interes
| When they brought me my uniform
found that the star of my rank whic
| had been on my right shoulder stra
had been shot off clean. The one o
nv left shoulder strap they asked m
for as a souvenir, as also my K. 4.
badges, which gave them. They a
lowed me to keep my "wings," whic
II I wore on my left breast because the
#l were aware that that Is the proudes
81 possession of q British flying officer.
n think I am right in saying that tn
"a only chivalry In this war on the Gel
M man side of the trenches has been oil:
q played by the officers Of the Germa
Dbl flying corps, which comprises the pic
81 Of Germany. They pointed out to N
@I that and my comrades were fghtin
MI purely for the love Of 1t, whereas the
M were fighting in defense of their coul
M try, but still, they said, they admire
81 us for our craftsmanship. had n
III ton to ask them If dropping bombs G
81 London and killing so many innoce1
81 people was in defense of their countr
sHi hnt WAS In no nnSition or conditiC