Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-24

~ tinuous combat, the victorious
Iron Division is back in rest
billets where the heroic Pennsylva-
MIA guardsmen are recounting in
their letters home the details of their
advance from the Marne to the
Vesle.
In the gallant drive of this division
the clash of steel against steel car
ried the Pennsylvania boys forward,
Letters from wounded infantrymen
in base hospitals behind the lines
describing bayonet wounds. reveal
how closely the division pressed the
retreaung Huns.
From July Is, when the last Ger
man offensive was hurled in vain
against the Iron Division at the
Marne, to July so, when the Huns
failed again in trying to loose the
grip of the Yankees on the north
bank of the Vesle, the Pennsylva'
mans were in the thick of it.
Prussian guards, picked divisions
of Bavarians, the best of the crown
princes army. were met and driver
back during these two weeks.
The division is making a name
for itself that will go down in his.
tory" writes Lieutenant Jack" Ben
der, Company L. 111th Infantry.
The Boches are worried now,
says Lieutenant Morris Mcguire, OF
Scranton, with Company K, 109th
Infantry. 'They were told that the
American troops, particularly the
National Guard and the National
Army, We're of poor quality. They
know better now"
First word that the Pennsylvania
troops were in the rest billets came
in letters from officers of Company
IS, 112th. which regiment was in the
fighting UP to the recent Yank VIC
tory at the Vesle.
Two casualties recently reported
from this regiment indicate it's close
contact with the Hun. John Claii
Fry, of McVeytown, of Company M
is in a hospital with bayone'
wound in the right arm. John Ian
dis, of the same company, of Lewis
town, has a bayonet wound in the
hip.
Grover Earl Sunderland, 2S years
old, a son of Mr.. and Mrs. James
Sunderland, of Vineyard, Pa, made
the supreme sacrifice July 4 under
heavy shell fire. He was a member
of the machine gun company at
letter from Captain Butler tenders
says:
Your son was most excellent
soldier, loyal and trustworthy. He
died in a good cause with his face
to the enemy. I will inform you as
to the location of his grave later
A letter from the young man, writ
ten July to his parents and left fol
the censor, was inclosed.
Sunderland is the second young
man of the little hamlet of Vine
yard, numbering a dozen souls, tc
die in the cause in less than a week
william Lloyd Rhoades was the
first.
I'VE have the hellish Hun on the
run and we are after him with 8
vengeance" wrote Captain H. G
Harper, a former New Castle ply
sician, who was in the thickest of the
fighting along the Marne. IT have
been through hell twice." Captain
Harper said in his letter to Mrs/H Har.
per, had several narrow escapes, but
so far am sound and we'll"
A tribute to First Lieutenant John
l.. Carney, of the Pigeon intelligence
section, signal corps, United States
Army in France, is paid by the mer
of his command in letter received
in Pittsburgh. The letter was signed
by twelve soldiers. Referring to Lieu.
tenant Carney, the men said: HE
came to our left when the shells were
hottest, and put nerve in us by giving
JUS cheerful words of courage; and
believe me, we are proud to have oul
commanding officer. for he is the
right man in the right place, alway!
working hard for the boys, always
giving us words of courage in the
darkest hours of danger, and last
but not least, working hard for the
homing pigeon, which he so dearl!
loves"
Lieutenant Carney, whose home 1!
in Dormont, was a Pittsburgh news
paperman until his entrance into thu
military service. He is Spanish
American War veteran!
How One Pennsylvania Boy Died
Hero is a typical Pennsylvania
boys description of the gallantry oi
The Yankees in the Marne fighting
Private Abe Bevan, of Wilkes
Barre. writes to his mother from 6
hospital where he is recoverinl
from burns by Hun gas:
Mother, it sure was great how
the American boys stood up and
fought. 1 want to tell you just how
some of the boys fell. Well, one
boy got shot through the stomach
and he wanted some one to hell
him back to the first aid. So Billy
Mccoy and another fellow started
out to help him. They got him q
little ways, when he said:
"'Boys, I, am going to die. Let
mo down here and go back to hell
our country
Mother, when I heard that
cried like a baby. I will never for
get that night of the fourteenth. II
was just like hell on earth. 1t must
have been your prayers that saved
me-"
And this Pennsylvania boy, fight
ing in the Thirtieth Infantry, adds
as a postscript to his letter:
THANK God I am an American!
Private George Ruff. of Johns
town, Is with Company #. One Hun
dred Tenth Infantry, the regiment
tried by fire again and again during
the two weeks advance, He writes