Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-12-24

of flooring and, in fact, the walls of
the barracks. The officers were quar-
tered in corrugated iron barracks, so
they had to borrow wood from US for
their collins. We would make the box
and put the body in it, give it as much
service as we could, in the way of
prayers and hymns, and put it away in
hole near the barracks. There was
so much of it that a single death
passed unnoticed.
One morning the German sentries
came to our barracks-they never
came singly-and told US that an Off
Ger was going to review the prisoners
and ordered US to muster up, which We
did. l was the last man out of the bar
racks and on account of my wounds I
was slower than the rest.
You understand had had no medical
treatment except crepe-paper BAN
dages and water; my wounds had been
opened by swimming from the Georgia
to the Moewe and they had been put
in terrible shape in the coal bunkers.
On account of the poor food and lack
of treatment they had not even started
to heal. Incidentally, the only cloth
bandages that any of US had were what
we would tear from our clothes and I
have seen men pick up an old dirty
rag that someone else had had around
his wound for a long time and bandage
his own wounds with 1t.
So it was all 1 could do to drag N.Y.
| self along. The officer noticed that
was out of line and Immediately asked
my name and nationality. When he
| heard American" he could not say
enough things about US and called me
| all the swine names he could think Of
1 was pretty thin at this time and
getting thinner, so l figured 1 might
| just as well have it out before ]
starved. Besides, thought, he ought
to know that we are not used to being
bawled out by German swine in this
country.
So / told him so. And I said that he
| should not bawl Americans out, be-
cause America was neutral. He then
said that as America supplied food and
munitions to the allies she was no bet
| ter than the rest.
Then said: do you remember the
Deutschland? When she entered Bal
timore and New London she got all the
cargo she wanted, didn't she?"
"Yes."
''Wen, if you send over your mer-
chant marine they will get the same"
For that answer ne gave me ten days
in the guardhouse. He did not like to
be reminded that their merchant ma
rine had to dive under to keep away
from the Limeys.
| | admit l was pretty flip to this Of
ficer, but who would not be when a
slick German swine officer baWled him
| out?
| It was while was in the guardhouse
| that Mr.. Gerard, the American ambas-
sador. visited the camp. He came to
this camp about every six months, as
q rule. Even in the German prison
camps the men had somehow got infor-
nation about Mr. Gerard'S efforts to
improve the terrible surroundings IN
which the men lived. Some of the men
ut Dulmen had been confined in vari-
Gus other camps and they told me that
when Mr.. Gerard visited these camps
all that the men did for a week or so
afterward was to talk about his visit
and what he had said TO them. We
knew Mr.. Gerard had got the Germans
to make conditions better in some or
the worst hell-holes in Germany and
the men were always glad when he
came around. They felt they had some
thing better to look forward to and
some relief from the awful misery.
Mr.. Gerard was passing through the
French barracks and a man l knew
there told him there was an American
there, The Germans did not want him
to see me, but he put up an argument
with the commanding officer and they
finally said he could interview me. /
never was so glad TO see anyone as
I was to see him. The picture is still
with me of him coming in the door.
We talked for about an hour and a
half, guess, and then he got up to
go and he said l would hear from him
in about three weeks. Just think what
| good news that was to me!
They let me out of the guardhOuse
and I celebrated by doing all the dam
age to German sentries that | could
do. The men in the camps went wild
when they learned that Ambassador
Gerard was there, for they said he was
the only man in Germany they could
fell their troubles to. The reason was
that he was strong for the men, no
matter what nationality, and put his
heart into the work. l am one OF
those who cannot say enough good
things about him. Like many others
if II had not been for Mr.. Gerard
would be kaput by now.
few DAYS after this | was slow
again as we were marching to the
bread house and the guard at the door
| trimmed me. When l fell l hurt my
wounds. which made me hot. Now
had decided, on thinking it over, that
the best thing to do was to be good
since | was expecting to be released
and | thought it would be tough luck
to be killed just before l was to be
released. But | had been in the Amer
ica, navy and any garby of the U s. A
would have done what did 1t must
he the training we get, for Wnen q
dirty trick is pulled off on us we gel
very nervous around the hands and are
not always able to control them.
So 1 went for the sentry and wal
loped him in the jaw. Then l received