The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-08-29
VISIT TO BOYS ON
A FRONT IN ITALY
IOWA BOYS SAY THEY ARE NOT
ON FRONT TO HEAR kAiSER'S
PEACE TERMS
ITALIANS ARE PLEASED WITH AMERICANS
A Trip Across The Alps Into Italy
Made BY The Americans Who Re-
inforce The italian Army
BY H.. c. EVANS
copyright 1879

Copyright 1879
Genoa, Italy.-Unconditional sur
render-Grant's ~terms-nothing else
will satisfy Americas fighting men in
Europe.
For a week | have been with a Ger.
tain American regiment, the first to
arrive in Italy. The regiment is un-
loading and assembling supplies just
arrived from home, preparing to move
to the Austro-Italian front.
am taking off ships Y. M. c. A.
supplies, also just arrived, loading
them on freight cars and shipping
them to the front, where other "Y"
men are establishing huts and tents
and canteens against the arrival of
our troops.
This particular regiment vas n
of the first modified in the United
States. 1t is composed of young men
who volunteered at colleges. Amcs
furnished SO and there were others
from Iowa City, Grinnell and Sioux
City. They expected immediate ser
vice in France, and have spent the
fourteen months since modified In
intensive training and fretting over
the delay in getting into action.
Yesterday some Italian officers Wis
tied our camp. During the converse
ton one of them expressed the belief
that now there are so many fighting
men from America on the line the
kaiser will offer some reasonable
terms of peace.
'To hell with the kaiser's terms"
exclaimed Capt. Harper of Denver,
we're not here to listen to any peace
terms the kaiser may offer. Well
make our own terms, and they'll be
unconditional surrender! We've icy
er fought a war on land that We didn't
capture the enemy's army. and that's
what we'll do in this war;"
The Italian officers were perplexed.
They withdrew and conferred among
themselves for a few moments. Many
of our officers and men had gathered
around. Our militant captain, sup
ported by other U. S. officers, some
of whom outranked him, stated that
we can mobilize an army equal in
numbers to the armies of all the fight
ing nations in Europe; that while we
entered the war to help restore the
territory Of Italy and Serbia and Bel
GUM and France, W. also entered it
to destroy the military power of Ger
many, to conquer her, to make her
submit to the standards of civiliza-
ton and keep her agreements with
other nations-in short, to disarm her
that in the future other nations may
live and develop their own ideals in
peace. How can this be done?" ex-
claimed the captain, chow, except to
q and capture the German
army? That's why we came, that will
we dol"
And then those Italian officers stood
at attention, shouted, waived their
caps and shouted:
"Vive la Americans"
This determination of the Ameri.
can army is at last understood by our
European allies and it has sunk into
their souls and taken possession of
them. With it's accomplishment they
sense such a peace in Europe as has
never been known.
AS an example of the splendid spirit
of the American troops l give an ex-
ample: Word was received that a
ship load Of their supplies had arrived
at a port seventy miles down the
coast. Captain Harper took a squad
of the men by rail to this port. The
ship was in dock. The men took off
a train of trucks and automobiles,
assembled them and loaded them. The
remaining contents of the ship were
loaded on a freight train. At 4
o'clock p. m, we started to drive the
truck train back, seventy miles
across the Apennine mountains.
Every truck was heavily loaded. the
engines and machinery new. When
we struck the first climb up the noun
tain side two engines died. The boys
sandwiched the two dead trucks be-
t-r1o holS Ao~or D<havc oud D,ch