The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1918-05-04

! LAOuSs WHICH We huSWereu as well as
we could.
where are the othersT he asked.
"Over there" said a young Berlin
soldier, and pointed to the battlefield.
"The others are dead or perhaps
prisoners. Several others have man
aged to save themselves and are some
where. perhaps"
"Never mind" the noncommissioned
officer said roughly, The conversation
had become disagreeabe to him. wait
here, until come back. Where are
the officers"
Again no one could answer. what
are their names? shall find them.
Perhaps they are in vltry."
We told him the names Of our Off
GERS. He gave US Identification papers
so that we might be able to prove to
others inquiring why we were waiting
where we were.
Il hope his horse falls and he breaks
his neck" said one Of our men.
We entered one of the houses which
/ had been robbed, as were all the others,
threw ourselves down upon the mat
tresses to sleep, sleep. sleep. How
long we slept no one knew. We only
knew that 1t was night and that some
Of our company had aroused us. These
were newcomers who had been hunting
for us for a long time.
"Come along. The captain is out
side and he is very angry. He has
gathered II of his men together and is
cursing like the very devil because he
could not locate you"
Sleepy, and entirely Indifferent to the
future, we left the building. We knew
that we would be sent into action
again but no longer cared. had never
before seen among body Of soldiers
such an atmosphere Of absolute lndif.
ference.
We came upon the captain. He saw
us approach minus our headgear, our
uniforms torn into shreds and without
guns and knapsacks.
"Why are you running around here?
ne roared. That was our reception.
Nobody answered. Nobody cared.
Nothing could be worse than what we
had been through, but although every
one among us felt keenly the injustice
Of the captains attitude we all re-
NAMED silent.
"Where is your equlpment?-Lost-
Lost. This has been a nice business.
The state equips you, you rebel. If all
were like you"
He raved on for while after this
fashion, this brave fellow, who. without
any action on his own part permitted
the rebels to retreat while he defend
ed his fatherland In Vltry, 4.26 kllo-
meters behind the battle line.
We selected guns from those lying
around us In heaps and soon were
ready to fight again.
We stood around half asleep, lean
ing on our guns. and waited to be led
once more to the slaughter. A shot
fell in our midst. 1t struck a color
sergeant and smashed his right hand
He cried out from the pain. His hand
was quickly bandaged. He was the
first.
An eyewitness told us how this had
happened He had rested his hand ON
4 the gun barrel In the same manner
as did all the others except that his
hand partly covered the muzzle. The
orders provide that the gun be locked
If loaded Turning to the color ser
geant, who was writhlng with pain,
the captain roared at him: II shall
!. report you for punishment for your
gross carelessness and for mutilating
yourself in the field"
The color sergeant, a noncommis-
stoned officer, realized that his military
career was at an end We all felt for
him. During the months preceding this
Incident he had always associated him.
self with the privates.
|. We never learned whether he was
brought before court-martial. Pun
lshment for self-mutilatiOn was daily
event and many severe sentences were
pronounced and then made known to
all the others to serve as a lettering
example. The color sergeants place
was conferred upon another, after
which the captain disappeared once
more in the direction of vitry.
We marched away and halted at a
point northwest OF the village. Here
we met other pioneers who had been
gathered together from various bat
taliOns and our unit was once more
brought up to IS men. The officers
told us that we would not enter the
battle today. Our only duty for the
time being was TO keep the bridges
over the Marine IN good condition for
the German troops lighting on the
other side, so that they could be used
In case the battle went against us.
We then marched to our destination,
which was at the point where the
Saulx flows into the Marne.
We reached our destination about
six o'clock In the morning. The dead
lay around In heaps everywhere. We
were camping on wooded height
and could overlook the country for
many kiiOmeters In all directions. We