The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-09-05
MARINE TELLS
OF FIRST FIGHT
Had Empty Feeling Inside When
He Went Over the
Top.
BecHE IS CoWARDLY FIGHTER
"Afraid to Take His Own Medicine,
Says Marine-Describes Work OF
Devil Dogs in Battle at
Chateau Thierry.

Chateau Thierry.
Paris.-He was United States Ma
rine. He hailed from Chicago, and
I Judged his age to be twenty-five or
twenty three. I did not learn his
name, but during the short hour we
spent together he poured out to. me
his personal impressions Of the fight
ing, in which he had taken share,
at Chateau Thierry.
He naively apologized when he
learned I was an American, saying:
"Of course, when I've been in and out
of the trenches a few times / expect
It will all grow stale, and / shant
want to talk about 1t. ;"
He was just a normal boy, and
he related his experiences and i'm
pressions without pose or boastful-
ness.
ssWhen we took over that part Of
the line we were told it was quiet
sector" he said, ''but it didn't remain
long quiet. We learned afterwards
that at first the Germans thought we
were British, our uniforms being some
what alike, but when they discovered
that we were Yanks they began to get
curious about us. They were sure
satisfied pretty quick"
Had Empty Feeling.
awhat were your own personal feel
ings the first time you went over the
top?' asked.
SWELL" slowly, 81 suppose was
frightened. had sickening, empty
feeling somewhere inside me. Just
before we were to start our captain
said: Now, boys, there's no need to
feel bad about 1t. These men over the
other side are feeling just as bad, I'm
fact mighty sight worse 1 remem-
Der his words distinctly, because
they were the last he said, except to
give the command to start. We had
to advance through a field Of green
wheat, soppy with dew, so that we
got wet through and could hardly keep
our feet on the slippery ground. Our
captain and lieutenant were killed
right at the start, and also the first
sergeant.
1--WE had only the gunner sergeant
left, and all around the men were fall
ing, and the air was filled with the
noise from bursting shells, cries of
dying men, the groans Of the wounded,
the singing Of bullets, and the clatter
Of the machine guns.
"It's q funny thing, but I can re-
member all the different sounds as
clearly and distinctly as If each one
had been separate instead Of all going
on at once"
He paused in his talk q moment and
1 could see his frame stiffen at the
mere recollection. Then he added,
slowly and with emphasis:
sTve never been what you'd call
praying chap, but I prayed hard then,
and many times SINCE"
/ nodded in agreement, for the war
has taught many people how to pray.
After moment said: "Yes, and
then?"
swell, we saw pretty soon that If
we didn't hurry up and get to the
wood there wouldn't be any Of us left
to take it-so we just hiked like-as II
well, as if 1t was an express train
that we just had to catch or bust.
And when we got there it didn't take
us long to clear the Boche out. He
would go on firing until we were right
on top Of him with the bayonet and
then he'd yell out sKamerad,' and hold
up his hands. The Boche amt a
sportsman; he's afraid to take his own
medicine.
"To H. with sKamerad.'"
"Even in the midst Of the fight I
couldn't help laughing out at the man
alongside Of me. He had seen his
chum fall and came on just wild, and
when he was going for one German the
Boche yelled: 'Kamerad, I've q wife
and ten children in Berlin and the
marine said: IL you went back to
Berlin there'd be ten more children
to h with you,' and rammed him
with his bayonet."
.What happened after you cleared
out the HUM" asked.
aBy that time we were reduced to
about half our company, and were or
dered to dig ourselves in. You should
have seen me dig! Some Of us had lost
our picks and we dug with our hands,
our cups, or anything we could make
use of. What in an ordinary way I
should have considered good half
days work did in half an hour. They
were not proper trenches. just shall
low bitches, deepened shell holes.
"Men were falling all around and
| two bullets went through my pack
| as crouched as near the ground as
possible digging like h. So took
my pack off and put it on the parapet
to the side of me, and the Germans
kept on popping at it. While was
digging every time I looked up to
throw the dirt ont c0Illd see q flower.