Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-22
DEEDS OF AMERICAN FIGHTERS.
Daring Exploits Of Soldiers and Sea-
men Over There.

men Over There.
Philip Wayn in Philadelphia Ledger.
viii the stalwarts of the new Ma
tional Army uphold the splendid battle
traditions OF this Republic?
Have the American soldiers in the
| making today the same rtsOurccful-
ness. the same grit and the same in
| domitablc courage which made the
names Of stephen Decatur. John Paul
Jones. Israel Putnam. Mad" Anthony
! Wayne. Ulysses Grant and Phil Shcri-
dan known around the world?
| VIII the lcgions OF the United
States go "ovcr the top with the old
time fankc" rush when General Per
shing gives the command. or rather
are the Huns correct in their diagno-
sis Of our casc--that We are buffers.
that our morale is "a flimsy as paper
and that our new National Army will
surge hclplcssly against Germany's
| iron wall Of snpcrmcn." and fall
hclplcssly back in defeat?
| To the doubterS and TO the pro-
German propagandists who are work
ing with might and main to aid to
| the ranks of the dUubtcrs. | point TO
| the records of tn. hundreds Of Amcri-
| can boys who have been busy almost
| since tn" beginning Of the world war.
furnishing anew the battle traditions
OF Tn" United States.
| These lads of Uncle Sans domain
| did not wait for the United States
to knock the chip from the shoulder
Of the Hun before they wadcd in and
did their all. Swept along by that i'm
pctuusity which has been a character
istic OF the American since the Boston
tea party. they jumped in with both
bodies and courage to the cause Of
| civilization.
| What red -bloodcd American cannot
feel Il thrill at tn" story of William
| Peter Jones Ono relation To John Paul.
except in spiriu?
Jones was known among his aSsO-
| ciatrs IN Harlem as big Bill" because
| he was six feet three inches without
his shoes Big Bill was Il good
| turrd as Il hound pup. but under this
| sunny exterior slmmbcrrd temper
| Liz" Il bull Few persons had ever
| prohcd deep enough to reach it. but
| the few that did never cared 10 repeat
| the performances. for the way Big
| lSill'' carried on was awful.
big Bll'' got into the big war as
quickly as hc was able to borrow car
| fare for Toronto. Can, where hc en-
listed in Canadian regiment. Reach
ing the front line trenches. the Amer
| lean selected az his buddy" one James
| McAlliStcr Il Canadian. small OF stat
urc but stout Of heart. One afternoon
shell exploded in the Canadian trench.
and James McAllistrr went west"
his head being all stove in.
big Bill'' gazcd dumhly at the
manglcd body OF his friend. Suddenly
| the Canadians in the sector were
startled by a terrific roar. and they
gaZrd with something like awe when
they SAW big Bill" swinging his great
arms about his head. his eyes blazing
with rage. The American grabbed an
armful of hand grenadcs, and before
his companions could stop him he
WAS "over the top" and racing like a
madman across No Mans Land to-
ward the Bochc trenches. The Huns
saw the bulky hulk of humanity hurt
ling toward them. but they were so
dumfounded by the spectacle they
seemed to have been suddenly stricken
with paralysis and did not fire shot.
Before the Tcutons knew what was
coming of. big l5ill' was down among
them. hurling bombs to tho right and
the left. \ dozen or more Huns
crumplcd up as the bombs exploded.
The Bochcs turned a machine gun on
the gigantic Yank. but before they
could spray him with shot "Big Bill'
Handed "a bomb i'm their midst, and the
gunncrs were wiped ont. "Big BIZ
grabbed the machine gun. turned 1t
back along the trench and riddicd
several more Germans with their own
bullets. Then covering the survivors
with the gun the powdcr-stained fank
from Harlem beloved March" The
Bochcs couldn't understand English.
but they understood what he meant.
and they marched to the Canadian
lines with big Bill" stalking grimly
behind them. big Bill" was dec
grated with the Croix de Guerre and
the Legion of Honor medal. His feat
is still the talk of the Canadian con-
tingent.
The unblcmished character OF Amer
lean courage is excmplficd in the
career of Eiffin Rockwell. n twenty
four year old American flier. who re-
Gently gave up his life fighting In
! France.
| Rockwell was member of the
| American escadrillc. and few weeks
after his arrival in France he showed
the kind of stun Americans are made
of. On this occasion he was making
n little tour in the air over the French
lines. He was about to skim back to
his hangar when he saw a Boche ma
chine about 600 meters under him and
| a little inside the French lines.
Rockwell Immediately reduced his
motor and dived for the enemy. The
latter saw that trouble was on the
way and started to scoot home. The
Boche machine had pilot and gun
nrr and carried two rapid-tire guns.
one facing the front and one in the
rear that turned on Il pivot so II could
be fired in any direction.
The Bochc gunner Immediately
opened fire on the American. Rock
wells machine was hit. hut hc didn't
pay any attention to that, for his
fighting blood was up. He swooped
for the enemy until he got within
twenty five or thirty meters from his
machine. Then Rockwell fired five
quick shots and swerved his airplane
- tb., o., Gaan from, having a