Evening star., 1918-07-19
All Of Them Heroes.

1t was necessary" he writes. ito
rush the machine guns on Juno 10 and
lS, and to take them by sheer spirit
and dash; as otherwise our wave
crowded with them. In every in
stance the enemy finally abandoned
the guns and those not killed or cap
tured ran away. We lost over SO
ed"
In this fighting grenades were used
occasionally. but the American rthe
| and butt and bayonet did most OF the
work. The Germans had placed ma
chine guns in the trees. while their
there with the Luger pistol. which
is almost as accurate as rife, and
is more easily hidden. After the line
was established 1t became necessary
to keep in touch with headquarters,
| and here the runners earned the ad-
miration of their mates. No matter
how severe was the barrage. they
| never once hesitated." says the official
! report. The list of those who dis
| tinguished themselves is too long to
Private Roy c. Lascher may be cited
as typical of all:
HE repeatedly carried messages
| through a barrage on June 10" says
the report. when 1t seemed almost
certain death to do so. On the morn
ing OF June IL, curing Sioicut pdI-
| rage, he voluntarily got out of his
dugout and walked to my trench.
where one-pounder shells were con-
tinually breaking in addition to the
other shells Of the bombardment, and
asked If had any message to send.
were exhausted and thought I would
want n runner to go to battalion
headquarters to ask for counter
! barrage."
It is by such glimpses as this that
one must see the fight in Belleau
| was noted by his comrades in the
trench behind. His head was visible
over the trench parapet, because only
by so exposing himself could he
watch the enemy. Every second OF
such exposure meant that he took a
chance on death. of course.
| "A shell came along" said an eye
| witness. land cut down a tree nearby.
1t fell right across him. we thought.
but after a moment We saw his head
in the same place, with the tree trunk
a foot above 1t. The tree had lodged
on a rock. He stayed there for an
hour and kept US correctly informed"
Heroism? There is no end of hero
ism.
Sergt Conrad had bis leg broken
so that the ends grated. according to
the surgeon who dressed 1t. you
could feel the ends grind" said he.
But he managed to crawl along the
ground and pull in Lieut.. Gflfllan
with him. How he did 1t only the
God of Courage knows When he
got to the hospital he tainted.
I'VE forced hot coffee between his
lips" said the surgeon. "and when
he came to his first words were: How
is GilfillanT"
Holding Their Nerves.
The worst came after-a week or SO,
when the men in the wood began to
feel that they would never get out.
The German attacks were constant.
and there was no relief in sight. The
boche airp1anes sailed overhead con-
planes to keep them of. They ma
chine-gunned the troops and dropped
bombs on them.
I'VE felt that we had to have Sleep"
said one men. in describing the air
activities Of the German. $50 that one
field and slept. The field had never
been bombarded, and there was no
spot anywhere else that was not be-
ing continually hammered by the
shells. But the next day the boche
fiers photographed the field and
wheat had been pressed down. The
next night the field was sprinkled
with bombs"
BY and by the continual pressure
Of sitting still under the lombard
ment got on the nerves Of many. II
had to bite my lips to keep them from
trem bling" said several. The moment
action became possible that nervous
feeling passed away. for these were
brave men. They took the advice Of
Regimental Surgeon Dessese.
"Sit down and get your back against
the WALL" he told them. and then
smoke one cigarette after another un-
til your nerves quit fidgeting."
At last came the end. whom another
unit relieved them. and what was left
of what had been famous corps
moved out For few days they were
pretty pale and shaky. for their phys
ical as well as their mental sufferings
had been great, and they had eaten
little. But they were as game as ever.
Just give us a rest and We will 60
back" the men said. mot that were
anxious to-but we'll 60"
That is the spirit Of the whole army.