The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1918-09-27
Yank Lieutenant Feels Huns win
Get Him, but Will Take
Few Along.
PROUDEST MAN IN UNIFORM
Wins Promotion From Corporal to
Platoon Leader for Daring Piece
Of Work on Night Pa
troll Duty.

Paris.-It was on the boulevard.
TIL Opera. The Opera was but q
ascnnt half block away. And 1t was
dark, both the Opera and the boule-
ward. The only light came from the
kiOsks advertising Paris newspapers,
patent bouillon and talcum powder.
There | heard the typical story OF the
American second lieutenant, the pIa-
foon leader who's doing a wonderful
bit In winning the war.
Call him Prettyman, which isn't his
name. He was a deputy superintend-
ent of banks before the war. AS he
said himself, he'd never Deer out in
his life after one in the morning eX-
~cept in a taXicab. He used to earn
$4,000 a year. have his bath every
Enorning and a cocktail before dinner.
He is a typical successful young New
Yorker.
Gosh" he said, TN the proudest
man in this army. I've got two kinds
"of itches ut the same time.
I'VE am owe on the Justicia, the
o n that was torpedoed the other day.
die said.
And they spcwed US out at an
English port at eleven O'Clock II
night, and at eleven the next night
we We're back Of the lines in Flan-
ders. ] was only a corporal then.
Then VT we're moved t. .tisace and
there Ne got our first taste of war.
Incidentally, there l got to be a pla-
-tocA leader.
On Night Patrol.
Here's what 1t was. Up in the
1nrst line the Heinies were just about
fifty yards away. One night the or
der came for Il patrol. Now, it's hard
to tell you about a patrol standing
here In the boulevard. Ont there it's
as black as the inside Of your shoe.
It's into that that Il patrol is sup
posed to go. And we went. Sure l
was scared. Scared green. l didn't
know .where l was, and l had the lives
of 60 men in the hollow of my hand.
But we vent. We laid for IA hours
right up against the German wire and
we located every machine gun they
had, and every man jack of us got
back to our own lines safely.
"My God. it was different from
New York. 1t was Il lot different from
Paris. It was hell. But when the
Heinies came over the text day we
knew where they We're coming from.
And we sloshed them.
THAT country is full of spies and
our wires from the front line back
We're cut. So ] ven back myself.
They'd laid down the best box bar
rage l have ever seen. Oh, l got
through it. because l was lucky, ] sup
pose. l got through it three times
that night, in fact. And me-, v out
sfter one o'clock in my life before ex-
cept in Il taXicab. Say, 1t vas fierce.
Right out in the open country. All /
had to tell me where l "a were the
telephone wires. And they were cut.
1 hit the break in that friendly little.
black wire I'd kept running through
my hand. But we did get word
through. And all the Germans got by
way Of prisoners were II cripples that
had been sent up to the front line by
mistake.
"And, say. I feel they're going to get
me. I've got my second l~ieutenancy
and I'm going back up to the front in
a few days, MS 0 as this celebration
rs over. And l have a bunch that !
won't come back.
1--WE got a little sister and q dear
father that I'd like to go back to, but
there's something bigger than that.