The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-24
Burr, Touched by Warmth of Welcome Extended by His Fellow T0wnsmen, Launched Into Story
 of the Trenches
By BoB M,DAvID


 few words of appreciation
 he launched into narrative of
 his overseas experiences.
 .No value can be placed on the
 great privilege | have had In be-
 ing with the boys over there. They
 are the finest set of fellows on
 earth and go about their arduous
 tasks with . spirit of care-freeness
 that surpasses anything | have { ever seen.
 .sWhen I first arrived at the front. the regiment to which l was to be att tached was on the eve of long hike, so I arranged to go along with them. We walked some l5 miles and I shall never forget the experiences of that trip. some of which I shall relate to give you an idea of the way our boys feel about 1t all, One night I dropped into a hut where the men were lying about on the floor at ease. The sergeant in charge mistook ma
 for an officer, jumped to his feet, sa- luted and gave the order for atten-
 ton Instantly the order was obeyed
 Being somewhat taken aback and anxi-
 ous to get on the inside with the boys I extended my hand to the sergeant and said. q am General Pershing, sergeant With face as serious as any I have seen he firmly grasped my palm and answered. General, I am very glad to meet me. l am Wood- row Wilson, After that it was all right.
 CAN'T BEAT THE SPIRIT ~We had gone about 10 miles when one little fellow with a pack on his back that weighed almost as much as he did, turned to me and said, I sure am about all in, but I'd wear these legs off to the. hips before I'd fall out How in Gods name can they beat an army with 8 determination like that! "Regardless of bodily discomfort, these boys are always in a good hu- mor I ran across fellow, one of the many thousand victims of 'cooties.' who was in the process of reading his shirt I asked him if he was picking 'em out, and was told that he just took 'em as he came to 'em.' I found one Alabama boy, pretty homesiek, resting in one of the huts. He told me he'd rather be in jail in
 Alexander City Ihis home) than Pres ident of France.
 'Going up to the front we passed through countless villages, whose naked, devastated walls were monu- ments to the barbarism of the foe. Thieves, plunderers and enemies to civilization had strewn the contents of fhe houses over the surrounding country.
 ARRIVE AT FRONT After much journeying we arrived at the front trenches. where the ter rife din of bombardment that took place during the furious fighting was \ like all hell had broken loose. Nine- ! ty feet under ground the noise was in 1 describable. Houses behind the lines \ were blown to splinters and all the beautiful trees that had stood before 1 the attack were cut down like matches Presently the wounded began coming I in. saw men with legs shot off and arms shot off, but have yet to hear | one murmur. I helped with these boys. I noticed that one sergeant, who was severely wounded, refused to be aided until his men had received aid Then he was far gone and I held his | hand as he died-the first boy whom
 had seen make the supreme sacrifice. l "A Jew had his legs shot off and was l dying As he lay there bleeding he wrote a letter to his mother. saying he did not regret to give his life for his country. Ten of II wounded men
 whom interrogated asked me to write | letters to their. mothers. The other I one, from Salem. Ala, was badly shot 1 but he said, Tell the boys to hold out i to the last don't know where Salem 1 is, but l am going to look it up. So | long as that spirit pervades the Amer 1 ican army we'll win the war no matter
 how long it takes!
 DUST HUNS FROM WOOD 'eI made trip to another part of the ! American front, where the fighting was all in the open. The men were on the edge of wood when the order | came to go through. Without artillery I or barrage they rushed headlong into l the machine gun fire of the Huns. At | tacking with rifles and bayonet they drove the Boche from the wood and | gained their objective. There never l has been and never will be better fight l ing than was done by Alabama boys | in that battle. Naturally, the casual ties were heavy. I was asked to take 1 charge of the burial of some who had | fallen. There were men from every I state. including Indians. Of 4S mei that I buried in the two days, every single one had either a Bible or a Testa. ment with him when he fell. didn' l know much about conducting a service but I prayed God to use the allie, to punish those beastly enemies o civilization who had caused 1t all.
 1 "A Birmingham doctor. line officer I worked all night attending the wound ed out on the battlefield and thef went forth next day and gave his fir. for his country. l saw machin, gunner wounded in the leg, but he re | fused to go back to the hospital ant kept pouring lead into the enemy whil his comrade dressed his gaping wound
 My friends, we are in the debto I class We must satisfy our conscience that we have done our utmost to stan, behind Christianity, democracy an civilization"
 lThe Canadian forces have never lost gun, have taken every objective the were given and have never lost on