The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-05-28
OVID TIL TOP
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AN ArIrRICAN SOLDIER
WHO WENT . =
AlIT1Ul GUY FfIpEY
| 0iS7 BY |
i1RIhlR GUY EhEYl
MACHINE GUNNER SERVING lh FRANCE

am sorry 1nat cannot accept your
offer, but I am leaving for England
next week." and hung up the receiver.
The lieutenant swung around in his
chair, and stared at me in blank aston.
ishment. A sinking sensation came
over me, but I def1antly answered his
look with, "Well, it's so. I'm going"
And 7 went.
The trip across was uneventful. ]
landed at Tilbury. England, then got
into a string Of matchbox cars and
proceeded to London, arriving there
about 10 D. m. / took a room in a hotel
near st. Pancras station for ''f1ve and
six-fre extra" The room was minus
the fire. but the extra" seemed tc
keep me warm. That night there was
a Zeppelin raid but didn't see much
of 1t, because the slit In the curtains
was too small and I had no desire to
make 1t larger. Next morning the tel
iephone bell rang, and someone asked,
t"Are you there?" i was, hardly. Any.
way, / learned that the Zeps had re-
turned to their fatherland, so I went
out into the street expecting to see
tscenes Of awful devastation and cow
ering populace. but everything was
normal. People were calmly proceed
ing to their work. Crossing the
street, accoS.ed Bobbie with:
"Can you direct me to the place of
damage7"
He asked me, "What damage?"
In surprise, I answered, "Why, the
damage caused by the Zeps."
With wink he replied:
ssrry, 1,/ x,oo M VIA voScSod
them again"
4 After several fruitless inquiries of
the passersby, decided to go on my
own in search Of ruined buildings and
scenes of destruction. I boarded bus
which carried me through Tottenham
Court road. Recruiting posters were
everywhere. The one that impressed
me most was a Iife-size picture Of
Lord Kitchener with his finger point
ing directly at me, under the caption
of ''Your King and Country Need You"
No matter which way I turned, the
accusing finger followed me. I was
an American, in mutt, and had little
American flag In the lapel of my coat.
I had. no king, and my country had
seen fit not to need me. but still that
pointing finger made me feel small and
Ill at ease. I got OF the bus to try
to dissipate this feeling by mixing
with the throng of the sidewalks.
Presently came to a recruiting Of
fice. Inside, sitting at desk was
lonely Tommy Atkins. decided to in
terview him in regard to Joining the
British army. I opened the door. He
looked up and greeted me with 'I sly,
myte, want to tyke onr'
Hooked at him and answered, "Well,
whatever that is, I'll take a chance
at it.''
Without the aid Of an interpreter, I
found out that Tommy wanted to know
If I cared to Join the British army. He
asked me: 'Did you ever hear of the
Royal Fusiliers?' Well, in London.
you know, Yanks are supposed to know
everything, so I was not going to ap-
pear ignorant and answered, Sure"
After listening for one half-hour to
Tommy's tale OF their exploits on the
! firing line, I decided to join. Tommy
took me to the recruiting headquarters,
where met typical English captain
He asked my nationality. I fmmedi-
ately pulled out my American passport
and showed It to him. 1t was signed
by Lansing. After looking at the
/ passport, he informed me that he was
sorry but could not enlist me, as 1t
would be a breach of neutrality.
insisted that I was not neutral, be-
cause to me it seemed that real
American could not be neutral when
big things were in progress, but the
captain would not enlist me.
With disgust in my heart I went out
in the street. I had gone about a
block when a recruiting sergeant VINO
had followed me out OF the ONCE
tapped me on the shoulder with his
swagger stick and said: "S.y. can