Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-06-05
YOUNG men OF GRAND FORKS COUNTY HAVE
PROVED WORTH; PARENTS HAVE MADE GREAT
SACRIFICES TO AID COUNTRY IN STRUGGLE
WAR HAS E E Esss
BROUGHT HOME
TO. THE COUNTY
Youths Of City Have Paid
Supreme Price Many
Reminders Of Conflict.
By G. S.

BY G. S. strandyold.
Wal may be something abstract, fssys
mote. even unreal to contemporaries
to visualize. too brutal to be compre.
hended. too distant to make any az
rect appeal to YOU, War may be all
OF this until n evening you CONS
home n hear the news that young
Charles Johnson who lived next door
to you and with whom you used to
gossip across the fence, has been Of
f1cially reported killed. in one Of tho
lists which General Pershing issues
and the war department spreads
broadcast.
But when you see ageing Mrs.
johnson folding the telegram from
Washington and inserting 1t In her
Bible, and when you hear her say
ley, my only boy-but 1 suppose it,S
all right'-then you begin to reat6A
che nearness of the thing, the fearful
glory of it. Is aEAssss
And you go back to your own side
of. the fence n muse: Whatever
YOU know about the war-it is moth
ing compared to Mrs. Johnson's sad
n proud knowledge-for she knows
1t all. ~
Big. fine fellow that he was! A
year g today he went away to tho
office of the registration board in the
court house to register for service
n soon after he vas sent to. a train-a
ing camp and then off to that mys-
ferrous somewhere whence s many
ing these days. What he did and
how he felt it all, no n knows.
Charley wasn't much of a writer, hut
sometimes one big solid thought was
crystallized into a terse sentenE0
scrawled in the letters which he sents
to his mother. +.
The guiding though: in his medita-
tons as he stood in the first line
trenches awaiting. the signal to leap
"over the. top" was expressed. in the
last letter received from him.:
Mother, I am sure that it is nec-
essary and just, to do all We cal to
unfetter liberty"
+" Charles Johnson's perspective may
not have been very inclusive. he him.
self may have been uncouth and rude,
and his language not assiduously poll
heart was made of pure gold. "
He went West'-and the wal was
brought 'home.' .
Charles Johnson's mother is sitting
on her porch as the SUM-. goes down.
She is knitting. and in front Of her
on a small table rests the old family
bible in which she has kept the LETT
low telegram slip which told her
what the war is. In her window she
displays a Red Cross emblem and q
j food administration pledge card; a.,
paper fac-simile Of the Third Liberty
Loan honor flag shows that Mrs.
johnson not only knows what the war
is. but also what must be done to in-'
! -,,-> A~-s-.A Z 4 yFa
She had a service nag given to her
by a friend who thought it would be-
a pretty Inc proper thing to have:
One star appears on it, and it is now.
embroidered in gold in commemora-
ton of him whose hear was made Of
pure gold.
The flag is placed in the parlor Of
the house, above a large portrait Of
her boy. There shines her golden
star, and despite her sorrow and the
: anguish of her heart it sheds lustrs
upon her life as she sits there in tho
sinking sun knitting sweaters for
other mothers boys and t~hinking@sto
herself that her son, her big, magnin-
cent Charley died under the Stars ana
Stripes as a man of whom any mother
in the world would be proud.
Indeed. the war has been brought
home to the people of Grand Forks
city and county during the year that
has passed since the first registration
day held one year ago. Time and
again the community has been called
on to bring sacrifices. and every de-
mand has been cheerfully and willing
ly met.
The United State government de-
clared wal on Germany or Aprilas6,
1917, and on June S. about ten mill
lion men,. between the ages Of Il and
81. registered for military service al
over the country. s -
J. the. nation received its AIef
!, I direct reminder that it was engaeAd
in a war. more tremendous than 1Ay
other in the country's and the wor4ass
history. fW
As the days went by, it received
. many other reminders. Men were
sent away to camps and to the battle
klfelds. At home Liberty Loans wers
oversubscribed,- large sums of money
were given to the Red Cross, to the
war activities of the 7. NC. A., the
knights of Columbus. the Hebrew orr
carnations. the Lutheran churcASar
. the Y. w. C.. A., etc. etc. in one Mn-i
ending stream of gold which all yas
,~i;ntended to back up and support Me
men who shads8ones- acrcsssthe sea-
Looking back OVER the past yeaFsat
Is possible to make comparisons lsthl
. IOINeE CLUES anu COuNIlS6s dAV H. t0g0As
tremely gratifying to find that inSto
. field Of practical war work has GrNNd
Forks been behind-while ina f1W
this city and county nave even tim.
the leaders. se}ss
|, There is an intangible thing whichl
! Is called public conscience or public
spirit. In this community It u Nx-
tremely tangible and has found ae1s
: preston In the tirelessi Work Of nuM..
erous women and men Who have g11-
!. EN- freely Of their time. their atrenGEk
! and their means to further TIE ses331B
OF the wAr. y#$A
Fl The nrvt year Of tho waSsskA1sasiigi - i
2 what public spirit. prudentNs g1roN42
8 and strongly inapired, Z
record OF that ysAr i
los sfair proniss ~
a Wtn st3ll be DONE in9 NAAx4A &
~ Men viii keep y
s~eryics; money wtlE1 da1s \
i EAsked Tor al kinds o&sf4SaSurpaG -
ana = auro0 - the msn Witl GSfa -
Sarely ~ m0asy nee1S6
lortheomtnG. sSSsI
Scontsassl = rsssAeas