The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-12-07
HOW A SOLDIER
FEELS IN FIGHT
Alabama Sergeant Gives Graphic
Description Of the Hell
OF War.
inferno Of Noise, Confusion and Death
-Rarraae and oae"Gott" With
the Germans but Amerl-
cans With French.

Admission, Ala.-Here IL the descrip-
ton Of a big battle as 1t impressed It.
self upon the mind Of Sergt. Lawrence
Hopkins Of Oxford:
They're off
at sends a thrill through you as
you hear their cry and rise up and
fnd yourself In a crowd of men paus-
ing a moment to light our pipes or
cigarettes and we are hurrying for
ward with glistening steel In our hands
to Eeet the foe.
"If 1t were not for these other men
moving along heavily laden to keep
pace with the barrage one might well
stand In amazement at a wilderness
suddenly become crowded with sway
ing humanity, bravely attempting TO
weather the furious storm.
'The big guns roll like heavy thun-
der. the little field batteries answer
with a bark, shells scream. whistle,
howl, according to their moods.
Death Is Everywhere.
"The quick staccato coughing Of
machine guns goes on increasingly all
around you and Ia swallowed up In
Its echoes. There Is a spatter Of rife
bullets as they whiz by you and you
wonder that you are untouched.
Barbed wire tears our clothes to
pieces; mud sticks them together
again. Birds fly at our feet and from
the sky winged airplanes swoop
down. Spitfire tanks plod on behind,
crashing and crushing; burning, boil
ing oil sends flames leaping to the
clouds; molten phosphorus is poured
into dugouts. There is gas to blind
and choke you.
"There are laughs and cries; the
laugh of a comrade as he struggles
on, or the cry Of another as he drops
his rife and puts his hand to his
heart-his last cry. There Is the yell
of the hunter, the wild-crying despair
of the hunted. The PUNK Of the NOR
tars and the burst of the bombs add
to the tumult of the storm.
"Stretcher bearers rush to and fro
running zig-zag across the battlefield
with their messages. Then I drop into
a shell hole, the cold sweat running
off my face, and breathe. Take my
compass out. get direction adjusted
and when the barrage lifts I dive into
the tornado again-and so on. Ger
man are scarce; they are down below
'Moppers up behind will deal with
them. Over broken trenches and torn
ground, slipping. falling, sprawling, ]
go for our objective. AS the curtain
of fire and smoke passes over the vii
lage we make the final squirt forward
and-dig like hi.
Germans Fear Americans.
'The noise increases. the guns gel
more angry, shells and showers OF
mud and dirt are falling all around
you. The devil seems to be rakinG
out his furnaces, the sky seems to
crash down or you, then my head
swims, my arms fall to my sides, my
legs grow limp and / drop down as ]
hastily don my gas mask. And when
I open my eyes and find myself l am
on a stretcher and someone with q
smile all over his bronzed face offers
me a cigarette.
Eyes, we ran the Huns for six days
and five nights, and I did not want
TO eat or sleep. / tell you II was
grand. and If / hadn't been gassed
feel like / could still be running
them. We started In on the oath day
# July. my birthday. and. mother,
dear, I took no prisoners.
"a German officer said to his men
Why do you rum; Is not Gott NIT
your And the German soldiers an.
swered: Yes, but the Americans are
NIT the French"