Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-05
STORIES OF THE WAR
THE FIRST AMERICAN CASUALTY

Longing for his mothers cooking, Aubrey Mcleod, the first American casualty in France, started on his way home. He lost both his legs when a
 German airpiane dropped a bomb on base hospital where he was on guard. Mcleod is a former student of PuF- ! due university and a resident of Bos- i ton He served in an Indiana battery on the Mexican border last year. He speaks of himself as "the happiest boy in the world Those who have met | him declare that he is the nerviest 1 boy in the world
 l Calling hirns' tour first blesse," How ard Kahn of the national war work council of the Y. M. c. A. writes of
 meeting him in France as follows: l ''When the transport - sails l from this harbor in q few days it will carry the happiest boy in the world. That is tine way he eharaeterizes him l self. would call him the nerviest boy in the world.
 "FIis name is Aubrey Mcleod He is a former student at Purdue uni
 versity, g resident of Boston, and he served in an Indiana battery on the Mexican border last year.
 I All Of which has nothing to do with why he is the happiest and the nervi- est boy in the world.
 l When histories Of the present war are written Aubrey McI4eod's naIAe I will go down as the first American T casualty. The air raid on Base hos pital No. --, which resulted in the death of Lieut.. Fftzsimmens of the medical corps and three privates, early in July, injured Mcleod so seriously thai. his two legs had to be amputated six inches above the knees. This lmuch has been briefly mentioned in loficial newspaper despatehes But nothing has been said about Mcleod himself or his hopes for the future. T T. met hospital sergeant on a , train bound for this port the other
 day. We're taking Aubrey Mcleod thcme,' he said. Would you like te , see him?'
 # q was not sure. had seen lot of French and German 'n,utiles' dur
 ing four months at the French front
 and the memory of some of them wal still with me. did not know whether wanted to see pale-faced, drawr } and suffering American. had knowl 7 some of McLeods friends on the Mex
 ican border last summer, however ant
 1 thought some news of them migh cheer him bit.
 st T entered his compartment. Tws ? soldiers were there. Both were hearty I red checked, fresh looking Americans
 neither of whom appeared to hay
 known what days illness meant f Where's McLeod?' asked. My name is Mcleod replied on a Of them, smiling. eI Then noticed that the lower par r tof his body wss covered with rug.
 'If the American wounded and tn
 ATnerican people accept their nisfor : tunes like Aubrey Mcleod has accept S ed his. the receipt of the long casualt, : lists which are sure to come will caus no alarm as to American morale. Looking for a sick man.? faughe
 Mcleod, reading my thoughts. There lnobody sick around lrsre. may ge t a little seasick in a few days, bu o there won't be anything serious abeu Y it.
 e "tJust what happened9
 "A fleet of Beche planes. The
 dropped six bombs. One of ,em go n me. Now I'm minus two legs # Mcleod said all this with a sfnil :. of his face. T had been on guard. Sonehed
 relieved me, and T lay down for som = sleep. I heard 2 cnnmotien an
 t5unped to my feet. Two bombs wer