The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-08-30

VI SquduS ana plalOOnS anu SlnSi.
Our captain had got re fifth time
meanwhile, but he would not leave u:
as he was the ranking officer. He ha
scalp wound, but the others We're il
his arms and shoulders. He could no
move his hands at all.
But he led our. charge when we RAJ
/ for the woods. We carried some ma
chine guns with us as we went, ant
the gunners would run piece, set up
fire while we opened up for them, ant
run on again. Some troops came on
of. trench still farther to the RICH
and Helped us, and we drove the Ger
mans out of the woods and occupied il
ourselves.
From there, we had the Germans il
our old trench almost directly from
the rear, and we simply cleaned then
out. l think all the vows were KEPT
that day, or else the men who made
them died first.
was shot through the thigh some
time or other after the captain got
back. 1t felt just like needle-prick
at first, and then for a while my leg
was numb. A couple of hours after we
took our trench back, / started out for
the rear and hospital. The wound had
been hurting for some time. They car
ried the captain out on a stretcher
about the same time, but he died on
the way from loss of blood. Fresh
troops came up to relieve US, but our
men refused to go, and though official
~ they were not there in the trench,
they stayed until they took the cap
tain away. Then, back to hillets-not
bullets, this time. believe that we re-
ceived an army citation for that piece
of work, but do not know, as l was
in the hospital for short time after
ward. do not remember much about
going to the hospital except that the
ambulance made an awful racket going
over the stone-paved streets of Etaples,
and that the bearer who picked up one
end of my stretcher, had eyes like dead
fish floating on water; also, that there
We're some civvies standing around the
entrance as we were being carried in.
The first thing they do in the hos
pital is to take off your old dirty band
ages and slide your stretcher under
big electric magnet. A doctor comes
in and places his hand over your
wound, and they let down the magnet
over his hand and turn on the juice.
If the shell fragment or bullet in you
is more than seven centimeters deep,
you cannot feel the pain. The first
doctor reports to the chief how deep
your wound is, and where it is stu
ated, and then a nurse comes up to
you, where you lie, with your clothes
still on, and asks you to take the
pressure"
Then they lift you on four-wheeled |
art, and roll you to the operating the
tier. They take off your clothes there.
remember / liked to look at the |
nurses and surgeons; they looked so
,ood in their clean white clothes.
Then they stick hollow needles into
ou, which hurt a good deal, and you
AXE the pressure. After while, they
egin cutting away the bruised and
maybe rotten flesh, removing the old
10th, pieces of dirt, and so forth, and
craping away the splinters of bone.
You think for sure you are going to
Iced to death. The blood rushes
trough you like lightning, and if you
ct sight of yourself, you can feel
ourself turning pale. Then they hurry
ou to your bed, and cover you over
18th blankets and hOt-water bottles.
hey raise your bed on chairs, so the
lood will run up toward your head,
nd after while, your eyes open and
lie doctor says, "Oui, oui, il vivra,"
eaning that you still had some time ,
} spend before finally going west.
The treatment we got in the hospital ,
as great. We received cigarettes, to- .
leco, matches, magazines, and clean !
othes. The men do not talk about ,
leir wounds much, and everybody !
les to be happy and show it. The +
od was fine, and there was lots of it. /
do not think there were any doc I
RS in the world better than ours, and /
ey were always trying to make
ings easy for US. They did not rip 8
e dressings off your wounds like {
me of the butchers do in some Of our q
spensaries that / know of, but took q
EN- off carefully. Everything was '
ry clean and sanitary, and some of t
e hospitals had sun parlors, which T
ere well used, you can be sure. 4
Some Of the men made toys and t
ncy articles, such as button hooks c
d paper knives. They made the h
indies from empty shell cases, or t,
rapnel, or pieces Of ZeppeIins. or 2