The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1918-09-23
BROWN COUNTY MAN
EXPLAINS GREAT
EIGHT-DAY drive
Lieut.. Victor Bieln, Relative of Mays.
vile People Tells of Wonderful
Fight "Over There"

The following from the Georgetown,
(O) News-Democrat will be of inter-
est here and is one of the most inter-
esting letters from France yet seen
published
Lieut.. Biehn is a cousin of Mr.. DAN
lei Shafer, of Shafer & Watkins.
The clipping follows:
A letter bearing date of August
list, received at the home of Mr.. and
Mrs. Charles Biehn, from their son,
Lieutenant Victor Biehn. of the In
dependent Light Seventh Infantry,
brings interesting news of the fight
ing in France. Lieutenant Biehn has
been in a hospital there, he having
induced stomach trouble of some ma
ture, which he thinks was due to
drinking water from the streams,
while engaged in the eight-day drive
against the Germans from the Marine
river
The world is not so large that one
does not run across somebody whom
they know. He begins by stating
that while standing in the doorway
of Y. NJ. C. A. building he saw
Carl Hicks. another local boy, com
/ ing toward him. Carl went with the
sixteen who went from Company NJ
to the Rainbow Division. The News
Democrat last week told of the re-
ceipt of letter by his mother telling
of his being wounded. Lieutenant
Victor Biehn states this consists of
a broken ankle. Hicks company had
been in the trenches since last Feb
ruary, yet the fighting had not been
as severe as the drive in which the
Seventh Infantry engaged There
are some of my men coming in each
day." he writes. THE company is
back on the firing line again. and
there are only about sixty left. and
there are only two officers in the bat
talon 1t looks as though the old
outfit is going to be a thing of the
past, but maybe they will yet be re-
lieved soon, so they can go back to
recognizing. / certainly hope so.
for the Seventh Infantry has Won
derful history. 1t is one of the first
organized regiments of the regular
army"
Lieutenant Biehns letter July
3Oth tells more of the severity of the
fighting. He states that he had lost
forty-one pounds, but that this was
due to exhaustion. "They tell me I
slept for % hours without waking
up when they brought me back, and
| during that time | was transferred
| from hospital truck, then to train and
back to truck and hospital again.
knew nothing of it, Guess was
about all in"
THE 23rd Division is over and
part of them used up already. as they
were made into a replacement divis-
ion. All except one regiment, and it
was sent to Italy. more for moral eff
feet on the Italians than anything
else.
when l was in command of my
company got 40 requirements from
the 23rd, and it was certainly a shame
to take those poor boys into action, as
they simply didn't know how to play
the game, but everyone of them was
game and will make fine soldiers"
Under date of July Goth his letter
tells of the fighting and how he came
to be sent to hospital. "Have been
through h, since | last wrote you"
he begins. 1--WE went into the first
line the morning the Boche started
their big drive, They succeeded in
getting few troops across the Marine,
but we drove them back and kept
driving them for eight days and
nights, We didn't take time out to
sleep and didn't have much to eat and
! ~ inv NiiiS NdlllCtH Win
water that was red from blood. We
paid pretty dearly for the advance we
made, but that is all in the game
When my battalion was relieved and
sent back in support we had four Of
ficers left. | am the only one left
from Company C. and now / am not
there, as / was sent to this base hos
pital on account of some kind of sto-
mach trouble caused from drinking
gassed water or eating spoiled canned
meat or something. Anyway, am all
right again and want to get back, for
they still have the devils on the run
81 don't think l will get back to my
company, as | have orders to report
to tank school as soon as | am re-
leased from the hospital, and that
means | won't get into action again