Norwich bulletin., 1918-09-17
STORIES OF THE WAR
Started the Roehes for Berlin.

Corporal Victor B. Fowler of the Twenty-third infantry, now in the base hospital with a wound received in the offensive on July IS, writes from the hospital June 29 to his family in Bos- ton:
 You probably have heard about the good work Of the Syracuse brigade. We sure have been in the thick of it since May 31st. It has been continu- ous fight since we stopped the Boche and started him back toward Berlin. In the middle of June l got slight dose of gas-enough to cause the loss of my voice for two weeks and to burn my skin and also burn my eyes slight ly. It was mustard gas, and parts of my body are still black or rather a dirty brown from the effects of it. did not get enough to hurt me much, which is something to be thankful for, as l would rather be shot a dozen times than get a good dose of gas Just before 1 got the gas 1 was stand 1 ing in some woods when G, 1. buck ct. which is soldier talk for big C" and l ST high explosive. shells, exploded near 1 by It blew me about five feet in the air, and when l came down l landed i squarely on my nose and busted 1t again.
 l Chateau Thierry front and were then 1 taken to another sector where we went ] eyer-can't say over the top any | more, as we haven't any trenches on
 the big allied attack you have been
 reading about the last week or so. It
 was on the first day of the attack that I got wounded. A German sniper in a 1 tree put a finish to my days werk
 about 7.s0 p. m, so l got in about IS | hours I had the satisfaction Of locat ing the sniper myself and seeing some of the fellows bring him down before I left for the hospital. The bullet he got me with landed in my ribs on my right side and, passing through came out about two inches from my spine Some horseshoes on me, weren't there It knocked a piece off one Of my ribs and the piece is still floating around in my stomach. The wound was kind of painful the first few days, but ii
 was only a week before I was able to
 walk a little. l walked over and toek
 bath today. which. by the way, is
 the first one. since the middle of May My side is. still stiff and my back 8
 little lame. but otherwise I'm feeling
 fine and expect to be going back te
 duty very soon.
 When we made the attack Thurs
 day morning we had been all Tuesday
 night, Wednesday-dayi and night
 and started the attack without any
 rest. Personally, 1 went from Il
 o'clock Monday morning until I go'
 hit, about 7.So Thursday night, with
 out a wink of sleep, and most of the
 men had gone almost as long. It was
 certainly wonderful the way the ner went over, after such strenuous tray. cling. To look at them as we started a person would think they were going on a picnic instead of to a possible
 death. Everyone seemed to act nat
 urally. We walked through whea fields that were literally swept witt
 machine gun and shell fire and I saw fellows all around me actually laugh | ing and talking as if they couldn't b. ! hit
 'In any of our previous attacks never had seen such high spirits. T suppose that Is why I noticed it st T plainly. I don't mean by that that tn ? men were doSncast, or anything lik I that, on our earlier attacks, but ol l this one they seemed to know in l stinctively that this was the frs
 American attack on a big scale ant : they simply had to make good. Fren : all reports l guess we did. too. Hoy : about it? We may not have got as ia as Berlin but they were going in tha . direction on doube time the last I say
 of them"