East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1918-08-31

which won him the Victoria Cross,
the greatest priced of all the medals
given in the armies of Great Britain.
Il didn't carry thin fellows in for
any Victoria Cross" he exclaimed.
Believe me. the cross was the last
thing I was thinkin' ave. 1 dug thirn
out because they wus me comrades
in distress-jist human cretuTes dying
where the shells and machine gun
bullets were flying thickest."
The audience roared when he said
when he was before King Edward he
felt more like scratching than any
thing else. In fact, the pastime of the
man in the trench is reading his
shirt, as in the plain language of
O'ROurke every man there is ''lousey."
This means from the brigadier gem
eral down to the private.
O'Rourke was introduced by the
Rev. r. E. Gornall who read the cita-
tions for bravery and displayed the
three medals won by the soldier, in
cluding the Victoria Cross. THE
royalty of Europe salutes a man who
wears this cross. 1 am sure the peo-
pie of this audience will do So" The
audience rose and saluted and the
salute was returned.
The following in detail is O'Rourke's
citation for the Victoria Cross.
Hill 20.
15-16-17 Aug. 1917.
The Victoria Gross.
No. 42S545 Pte. Michael James
O Rourke. Can. Inf. II
For most conspicuous bravery and
devotion to duty during prolonged
operations.
For three days and nights Pte. |
O'Rourke, who is a stretcher-bearer,l |
worked increasingly in bringing the |
wounded into safety. dressing them
and getting them food and water.
During the whole of this period the |
area in which he worked was sub /
jected to very severe shelling and |
swept by very heavy machine gun
and rifle fire. on several occasions
he was knocked down and partially
buried by enemy shells. Seeing n (
who had been blinded
around ahead of our trench
in full view of the enemy who were
sniping him, Pie. O'Rourke jumped /
out of his trench and brought the 4
man back, being himself heavily
sniped at while doing so. Again he
went forward about fifty yards in
front of our barrage under very heavy 4
and accurate fire from enemy ma
chine guns and snipers and brought
in a comrade. on subsequent oc-
easion. when the line of advanced h
posts was returned to the line to be
he went forward under
heavy enemy fire of every descrip- L
ion and brought back a wounded
man who had been left behind.
He showed throughout an absolute
disregard for his own safety. going
wherever there were wounded to sue
,or. and his magnificent courage and 2
devotion in continuing his rescue work
In spite of exhaustion and the inces-
SAINT heavy enemy fire of every de-
scription, inspired all ranks and un-
1Oubtedly saved many lives.
Private Noble Witty.
Private Noble who accompanies
o. 'Rourke, was called upon to talk
preceding the chief speaker and en-
.ertained the audience with some good
anecdotes of the trenches. Noble IS
a Scotchman and was SO severely
wounded as to be incapacitated for
life while serving with a Canadian
regiment. h
M1sical numbers were given last
evening by the Alta orchestra under
Prof. c. o. Breach and the audience
was led in patriotic singing by the
professor with his usual enthusiasm.
He led In cheers for the speaker and
Tor leaders In the allied cause. Two
solos were given by Mrs
Mae Hager.