The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-05-23
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they are performing naTVels Of con
strUCtlve work necessary to the life
of an army far removed from it's
base
l met and talked with thousands of
soldiers in their camps. In Y. NJ. c.. A.
and Red Cross canteens, in many
ancient towns Of central France. l
saw our men disembarking from
their transports, and / saw them
tramping through ice cold mud to
the front line trenches. l talked
with them in their btllets in lonely
little villages Of the north, and in
vacation cities Of the azure south. I
have visited American soldiers in
hospitals and l have knelt beside
their graves Our soldiers have only
one enemy. and that is the Germans.
That enemy they must fight and
steel our hearts to the sacrifices Of
life, the suffering and manning that
are absolutely inevitable and will
have to be borne. The casualty lists,
every day growing a little longer.
are bound to grow even longer. What
English mothers and French moth
ers, what all the people Of all the
warning nations have endured. we
shall have to endure. 1t Is the
worlds pain and we cannot escape
It
What We Americans have to help
us bear what Is coming In the next
few months is the knowledge that
our losses are going to be as few
as possible. Life Is to be safeguard %
ed as far as human agencies can de-
wise. Our army Is organized for
that. Men are not to be sacrificed
unnecessarily. The best science in
the world is being modified to save
suffering and to heal wounds. Sick
ness and accident are being guard
ed against. Drunkenness and i'm
morality are under strictest ban.
Much Of this was privileged to
hear from the man who perhaps
more than any other individual is
responsible for the lives and the
souls OF our men in France, Gen.
Pershing. I saw him twice. once
briefly in Paris, where he talked to
me five minutes before leaving for
an allied war council at Versailles,
and once at length in his headquar-
ters in a. quaint old town which is
the general headquarters Of the staff
Of our army in France,
Pershine Least Formal.
Gen. Pershing is the least formal
Of any great officer I have ever seen.
with the notable exception Of Papa"
Joffre, but generals are all very i'm
portant personages and have to be
addressed with circumspechon. I
wanted very much to say to Gen.
Pershing, but Of course I didn't, that
after seeing him felt a whole lot
. CioT O hn11f ncnApio1 enlSipT
more human commanding officer. one
more concerned about the last detail
Of the life Of the enlisted man, I am
sure never lived He spoke Of the
soldiers as a father speaks Of his
sons with pride and passionate con-
Germ
"They are the best in the
world" he said, and he added
that although our talk was pri-
vate and that he could not be
quoted, was at liberty to repeat
these words: "Our soldiers are
fine men, clean, strong, intel
igent, and they will make mag
nificent fighters. Tell the people
at home, especially the mothers,
that they can be proud Of their
men. Tell them that almost
without exception their behavior
Is beyond criticism. Tell them
that from me-"
Proud Of their comma nder also
may the American people be, and
over above all, proud of the cause
for which the American soldiers
fga1t and for which they are ready to
die Not in the whole history Of the
world has a more righteous war been
fought. I do not think the majority
OF Americans yet dream Of the depth
Of depravity contemplated by the
men who brought about the war. We
have heard of German atrocities and
we have shuddered at the recital.
But the plan and object Of this
war on the part Of those Prussians
who are responsible for it constitute
the worst atrocity Of all, for the plan
was the murder Of Christian civiliza-
ton and the object was the enslave-
ment Of mankind
Son On Humble Duty.
have seen some Of the effects Of
g. partial success of the German
war lords plan, and I, the mother Of
a soldier, at this very hour in deadly
peril of his life in the Toul sector.
say to the mothers of other soldiers
that 1 would be ashamed to have
him anywhere else. Not many weeks
ago I saw him for a short hour. a
simple enlisted man in humble
post Of duty. The spring wind blow
ing over the devastated and ravished
plains of France bore the Daring Of
plainly to our ears Every
day since then those guns have
roaTed nearer and now that part Of
France is closed to civilians.
The next message that comes out
Of the sector where the Americans
hold the line will bring mourning
and tears to many women. And yet
I can truthfully say that I would be
happier to have my son dead in
France, sleeping in a. soldiers grave
beyond the sea, than to have him
alive and safe, Sinking his duty in
a bullet proof job at home.
I do not believe that in the years
to come there is going to be much
happiness for the men who are
nor for the women who
may be- encouraging them to shirk.
The shtrkers are going to play a
very pitiful part in the national life
Of this country after the war. The
men who come home will be the rul-
ers of Americas future destiny.
They will be the strong builders oil
our greatness. They are learning inI
this war how to build.
Mrs. Dorr will next describe her
n:eeting with the one soldier in
France I most wanted to see."
LABOR ORDER Is FILLED.