The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-10-05
Birmingham Meets and Greets Cordially, Detachment
 Heroes Wearing Crox de Guerre and Medaile Mitaire
By DOLLY pALRYMPLE

l1-IRANCE has had many great soldiers;
 -1 the pages of her history made glo-
 rious by the valor of her sons, are
 filled with brave deeds of those who
 have carried to victory the orifIamme and
 the golden lilies of her kings, the eagles of the empire, and the tri-color of the republic-but never. has there been braver, more courag geous or a more noble exponent of her splendid, valiant sons than the detachment of her far famed
 Legion of Honor" which visited Sir mingham Friday.
 This group of men-G0 strong-four of | their number missing gone on a mission 1 of mercy and sorrow to their dead com
 rade left behind on the journey, in
 far-away western city, will ever shine out Tn the minds and hearts of those of
 us who met them yesterday as stars of the military genius and inherent democ. racy of her race-a triumph of courage
 and high purpose-soldiers every inch of
 them-splendid, superb, glorious in their | victory
 1 It was my good fortune to be an n- vited guest of Birmingham's efficient or ganization, the Girls Volunteer Relief as- sociation, al the beautiful luncheon whtch I they gave at the Country club in honor of
 the Legionnaires yesterday; a pretty com plment genuine, sincere and loyal, by l the representative young women of this l city to the visiting soldiers and most 1 happy occasion it proved to me, for it ! gave us each and all an opportunity to | meet personally-to shake hands with | these noble young Frenchmen and hear | from their own lips, something of their I experiences and find out for ourselves | something of that chain mail spirit O. l bravery for which they are world famed | today.
 l To Mr. C. l. McReynolds, our govern | ments capable representative in charge 1 of the Legion of Honor 1 am indebted | for many bits Of interesting information regarding the personnel of the party-not l the least of whom l may mention Lieut.. 1 Alexis Hertier-voted by The Legion ot | Honor as body to be the bravest man | among their membership, his decorations, l the highest given to any officer in the | French army numbering many, received at the battles of the Somme, Champagne ] Verdun and others. Lieut.. C. Lapele and | Albert Moser, known as the Baby Le- ! gionnaire,' of the detachment, just l boy, only Is, and who has seen four
 years of active service having gone into
 the war at the very beginning.
 | Here and there some big stalwart splen-
 
 | the passing remark: He has been wounded four times;" "a bit of shrapne ] passed through his body from front to l back within an eighth of an inch of his | heart" See that soldier over there?
 The Germans all but put his eyes out; l see the scars?n and That soldier man | is an expert with the bayonet, he's killed 1 ten Germans;" and still another who had performed some valorous deed as could see for myself, for the stripes on his | sleeve showed that he had received two | wounds, while these were balanced by two medals pinned proudly on his chest still another young, beautiful, smiling,
 soldier boy would loom up pink-cheeked
 and brighteyed, sturdy and anxious to l fight pour Ia patrie," although he ac- knowledged he had enjoyed his trip over
 the blue waters, but ever and anon his thoughts turned to the battlefields of
 his beloved France where he would like hated boches,
 l The particular thing that impressed me about the Legionnaires was how perfectly | casual these war veterans take thelr bodily damages. Why, chap can have
 a gold plate as big as an apple pie .bolte1 | into his shoulder; his arm shredded anu | splintered and smashed into every con l ceivable or inconvabie way; his shinpone all put together like iigsaw puzzle and | fastened with wires; and chunk of his | back left somewhere at Vimy Ridge or | Seicheproy, and yet tell you calmly as II
 he were talking about the beautltui | weather that he would rather be back | there with the heavy artillery than s1t- l ting up in the Waldorf-Astoria eating Guinea hen and Virginia ham la Del monico, and alligator pears la sherry. 1 These apparently indestructible mem | bers of the French Legion of Honor are perfect wonders physically as well as 1 mentally They verify all the magnifl- 1 cent reports we hear of their supern
 bravery, their courage and their Slorl- 1 ous manhood.
 Among the number I found many re- markable nnen-one Christo Nisola, black haired and olive skinned, Greek, if you please, who wore a belt taken by him OH | a Prussian captain, with the crown ana l insignia of that nation on the belt buckle. | I would have adored to know what ne i said about it, but alas, l couldn't speak 1 French and he couldn't speak Engllsh, and while it was all Greek to me- as thought I found out when 1 met one | I didn't even know that!
 i A planter of fenown, young, boyish ! soldier man, Alexander Zinoview, was |