The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-12-30

bereft of everything which even
through the long four years Of imprt-
sonment they had been wont to call
their own. On, all sides and far out
ahead Of us were the flames Of burn-
ing homes. March as fast as we could,
yet the work Of destruction was faster.
and we could do nothing to save. It
was picture. of frightfulness which
will ever remain imprinted on my
memory, relentless flames touched off
by the torch of the terrible Hun, cast
ing on the low hanging clouds most
gruesome glow. God sent His rains,
but the flames were too we'll fed. They
could not be extinguislied.
But If the experiences of the night
were sad, those of the morning were
sadder, with the daylight. the utter
horror of the destruction became more
evident. One particular incident tells
the story Of thousands. An ancient
little French woman with only worn
old shawl thrown over shoulders that
were bent with toll. sat OH a curbstone
before the .smouldering embers of her
burned house. Occasionally she cast
her eyes in sorrow at a pile Of rock
which represented to her the remnants
Of years of toll. and. the happiness of
home life and conjugal felicity which
would never more}be hers. Everything
was gone. Her two sons had been
killed in battle: and her husband was
dead as a result of the war. Her home,
in ashes. German kultur had cast her
tily clad andfwith no prospects for the
future. II. sttsgs,l, q = r..
Suddenly 4 there: appeared from
around the corner the khaki clad SOL
diers of Uncle Sam. The old woman
slowly arose and a beautiful light came
to her wrinkled features. She had
heard of the soldiers in khaki. but her
captors had minimized our strength.
Now we came marching into the vii
lage too late to save. tin true, but
conquerors just the same. For a min
ute there was joy in her Sorrow, for
she felt that q new force had come to
liberate. her land and the people she
loved 50 well. She took our hands in
both her horny ones and in voice
that was cracked with age and scarce
~ audible. she said "vive@la Ameri-
que" We felt as thought,a blessing
were called down upon d. All we
could do was bow our heaIE In silence
there were no words for an answer.
Her story is not the story of one
person, but Of thousands upon thou
sands. Not one village alone suffered
the fate Of this particular village.
Thousands are in needless ruins, but
the story does not end there.
Time will tell of terrible suffer-
ing inflicted upon a defenseless and
innocent people. I alone could con-
tinue to enumerate incident upon Incl
dent which would show only in Il small
way the terrible crime of the German
people.
As I said in the beginning Of this
letter. am going to "A duty from
which I am not sure that will ever
return. If 1 stay here, with some of
the boys when all the others return.
do not want anyone to be sad about
it. I tdp not want any one to wear
someWhssre I have! read 4 little verse
which have copied. It reads as fol-
lows: =. ~, -.
80 the gate swings wide at my
Across endless. reaches see
Lost friends with laughter come
focking ~
To give a glad welcome to me,
Farewell, the maze has been
-; ,treade1-t'''"
This is the ending of strife.
say, not that death should be,
dreaded - -
'Tis but the beginning Of life"
Let us look at it in the way ex-
pressed so beautifully above. God
knows I want to see you all again,
but it is not my viii that shall be
done I feel sure that God will give
ME the strength to do my duty and
if I do this why should anyone have
any regrets.
Give my love to grandma. She is
truly wonderful woman. If the world
had her philosophy of life there would
be little use Of talking of q paradise
in worlds beyond.
There are many others that would
like to mention in this letter. but time
does not allow It, It is about time
for me to 90 to new duty. With love
to all and best wishes that everything
good may come your way, I remain as
ever yours,