Mexico Missouri message., 1918-07-18


a big Job ahead to prove worthy of les
namesake, but, with the help Of bll Of
you, It will, in good old down-east par
lance, 'do its gol-dernd-est" to deliver
the goods. So--Forward MARCHI"
To the Folks Back Home.
The slanderous stories of drunken
ness and disease among the American
troops are deeply resented by the sol
diers. They call every chaplain In the
army, Protestant and Catholic, as
witnesses to prove the falsity of the
charge; and 1.-THE Stars and Stripes
prints the following pathetic appeal
to the folks back home:
ITO the fathers and mothers, sis
ters and brothers, wives, sweethearts,
and friends Of the men in the Ameri-
can expeditionary forces:
1--WE hear that you have been re-
galed with some alarming stories about
us of the A. e. f.. and our conduct
here in France. In fact, some of
those stories have been relayed to us,
and If they weren't so far from the
truth we might be inclined to get
really mad. But knowing the authors
of some of them-for some Of the hys-
terical stripe have really been over
here-our first inclination is to laugh.
"But, after all, it's no laughing mat
ter to be talked about behind our backs
in such a reckless and irresponsible
way by reckless and irresponsible peo-'
pie, though no doubt some of them
have the best intentions in the world
and think that they, and they alone,
can save us. (They have probably
told you that, and asked you to con-
tribute money to their worthy cause,
haven't theyO What hurts most,
however, is the thought that, though
we know you are loyal to us and have
the firmest of faith in us, perhaps
these dire tales may have caused you
anxiety, may even have caused you
to believe that perhaps, after all, we
had become a bit neglectful of our
trust; and that, so believing, you
might have been sorely, and entirely
unduly, distressed in spirit.
"Be assured that these sensational
stories are nothing but myths. Abso-
lutely nothing else. And we have the
facts to prove that they are. Listen:
Men on Good Behavior.
"The percentage Of venereal disease
in this army of yours is three-tenths
of per cent-the smallest percentage
on record for any army, or any civil
population, in the worlds history. It
Is a sober army, and O well-behaved
one. The statistics in the possession
of the judge advocates generals de-
partment prove that there have been,
in proportion, fewer cases of drunken
ness, fewer breaches of military dis
cipline among its members than has
been the case with any army whose
records have been preserved.
"As to conditions in general, both
allied and neutral military observers
have expressed themselves as astonish-
ed at the remarkably good behavior
Of this army of yours. The world does
move. Armies no longer live by for
age, loot, and pillage; but even at
that, this pay-as-you-go, behave-as-you-
| go American army has been a revela-
ton to our European allies.
"Take it all in all, these American
expeditionary forces constitute an
army which is In every way worthy
successor to the first army of liberty,
whose commander was George WASH
ington. 1t is proud of its heritage,
proud of you people at home who are
supporting it and who are backing 1t
with your labor, your money, your
hopes and your prayers, proud of the
government that sped it on its way
overseas, proud of the cause for which
it is fighting-the greatest cause which
any army was ever called upon to
champion. It would rather rot under
the soil of France than to do anything
which would cast discredit on the
homes it left, which would impugn in
any way the good name of the great
people from whom 1t was recruited.
"Bear all this in mind, good people
back in Gods country, If you hear any
more stories about us made up out of
the same whole cloth. If by any
chance any of you should hesitate to
believe us, write to our commanders,
our chaplains, our doctors-anybody in
authority. They will back us to the
limit-and we, for our part, will guar
antee to come home 20 you clean in
body, exalted In mind and heart, and
with the record behind lis Of a. mans
size job manfully DONE"