The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-30
the piles
idea Of Americ boys fought.

troops were marching with packs on
| their backs singing, as tho they were
going to walk right into Paris. In
deed, they had almost reached the
road to Paris leading down from
ChateauThierry and Vaux, for I saw
the grave of dead German within
a few rods of the Paris road.
Then American Struck.
But the foe struck a whirlwind
With cries and cheers the American
boys were on them. They fought them
from behind trees, ridges and culverts,
for over five miles up the low valley
and by nightfall had driven the Ger
mans back into their holes in BelIeau
woods Our bombardment of the
woods was terrifying in it's intensity
| The earth rocked to the crashing of
artillery and the woods were alive with
the flame of high explosives. Great
trees were shattered as if by lightning
Thirty thousand high explosive shells
| were fired into the forest within an
hour. In places clean lanes were
| moved thru the woods by the hail of
shells.
Yet some of the Germans secure
In their burrows survived the ordeal
and others had been sent into the
forest in the counter attack, to meet
our men with a whitening fire from
concealed machine gun nests placed
among the huge rocks and crevices.
when the men plunged into that
dense forest on the opening charge
everything seemed to let loose at once.
One-third of the woods was captured
In the first attack; fifty machine guns
were taken. On June i a portion of
our men went over and took the town
| of BOuresches. The marines pushed
forward and forward until they had
taken half of the woods. Then two
thirds of the northern part was cap
md
June the entire woods was in Ameri-
can hands.
But 1t had been a fearful combat.
me open wheat fields surrounding the
woods were swept by shell fire. The
line of communications was a center
OF commandment SO that it was neces-
! sary to pass thru hail of death to get
ammunition, rations, water and engin-
eer stores to our troops. The enemy
VINO was pouring thousands of men in
! to the woods wished to maroon the
Americans. But thru long days and
nights in which time lost any meaning
the American boys pressed forward
| and dug in" again pressed forward
and dug in, keeping up the duel with
| the enemy in that black, reeking
| jungle. Belleau woods when 1 was in
it, was nasty, hot smelly hole, with
shells bursting, but the worst thing
was the odor of decaying Germans.
and scarcely a breath of air. Fancy
stretch!
One Lad Gets Twelve.
There were prodigies of valor in
that woods, examples of supreme self
sacrifice and heroism that never can
be told. Wounded men fought on and
| charged. When their commanders fell,
they themselves went forward
| imagine these men working their way
forward, in a woods swarming with
concealed enemies, to pick off the ma
chine gunners. Yet one lad, an Ameri-
can sharp-shooter, accounted for
twelve of the enemy. A major with
his hand shot Off refused to leave his
gun and died from a second shot A
wounded man stopped in front of a
machine to pick up a wounded COM
rade. He was kiHed. But I cannot tell
more of these incidents. They are too
inexpressib1y sad. Think rather of the
glory of these men, their triumph
over peril and suffering and death.
Imagine what it must have been to
have plunged into that jungle alive
with the enemy, lying behind trees.
rocks and crevices. hidden in dugouts
beneath the ground.
The heroes of Belleau woods who
yielded in no place, who forever press
ed forward. who can pay them worthy
tribute? Those of them who have
gone have surely won their immortal
fly and have set new criterion Of
conduct for men to believe in and live