Weekly journal-miner., 1918-08-14
MARINES TAKE LEADING PART
 IN b|G SCRAP
RAY HARRIS, FORMERLY OF THIS CITY, NEPHEW OF MRS. A. L. s MT H, DECORATED FOR CON- SPICUOUS GALLANTRY.
s(From Tuesdays Daily0

Ray Harris, formerly of this county where his father 20 years ago was one of the leading cattlcmen, IS with the Marines in France and participat- ed in the great battle which stopped ! the onrush of the Huns hordes which were advancing on Paris. Harris who is a nephew of Mrs. A. L. Smith of this city was decorated by the French for conspitrous gallantry in the mix-up. The following is from Heavencr Oklahoma paper, where his mother is now residing:
 Mrs. l. A. Butler is in receipt of a letter from her son, Ray Harris, sig nal corps man with the U. s. Marines whose valiant work on the western | front recently received world wide recognition. The young army man writes very modcstly of his part in i that encounter that was heralded as | the beginning of terrible punish ment and great defeat of the Huns. He speaks casually of the victory quite as something that was to have | been expected.
 Given French War Cross.
 He enlisted in Chicago in May, | 1917, with the Marines. The esteem in which he was held by his former employers is evidenced by the in- terest they have taken in him since . he entered military life. Numbers of ] packages have been sent him by the : Montgomcry-Ward Co. and by em- plovees of that firm.
 While stationed ht Paris Island young Harris made a record as a sharp-shootcr and was given a silver medal He has been in France nine months. He with other members of Company 9th regiment of Marines, was signally honorcd by being dec oratcd with the Croix de Guerre for bravery in the recent brilliant victory in France, June 20. 1918.
 Dear Mama:-If you have been reading the papers from May 2 on up to now, you'll know without won | dcring why l haven't written before now. We made history in the past 20 days and in making that history there was no time for letter writing or anything else, although I knew you were worrying about me all the i time that big battle went on, but ' Mama, who could get hurt with red thread in his socks"
 Yes l am going to have a world of things 10 tell you when l come back, and these last few days have greatly increased my bunch of eX- pericnccs. You know now what stuff | the marines are made of, so do all the folks there. guess; but the chief importanr.. tic Teutonic military i s-.cus have mlde that painful dis covery also. l say painful-painful ] in its fullest sense for we met the "supcrman" C2) and made soup of him We plucked the eagles feather and found him to be an ostrich. To tell the plain truth, I failed to find anything super" about them except their super structures, which IS 'squarchead'' covered with helmet | l must confess a little vanity-I'm anxious to see some papers about our doingS.
 Another thing I want you to do is to buy ne bunch of safety razor blades and put them in my letters. , You can send them that way ii you wrap them up in a piece of paper I'll be out one of these days and then I'll have to grow a beard and be a ' Frenchman.
 I got bunch of letters from you and papers and several bundles of magazines from Aunt Ruby, all the same day, while some of the hottest fighting was going on. They surely . |. . l., ..Ts1I ,,--t4a A,t,,t Rtfh,- too. and tell her about them. Also, I got a letter from Bob Carey, he is in the army now. He was too old to draft. but registered as being of age. They didn't want him then, so he went up to the registration place and refused to leave. so they took him in order to get rid of him. That's too patriotic for me-that is 1t IS now: it might not have been a year ago. Last year I would have enlisted because | loved my country. This year I would have enlisted because | hated kultur. That's the only diff ference; I love my country same as ever.
 zone now so you can cease to worry for awhile You sec we rushed mp in hurry and did our job good, and BOW we are back little watching the effects of our work to sec that all is well. that the job will hold; to see if our "doughboy brothers can put on a few finishing touches. Sce5
 We feel as ii we had started busi- ness, got t in shape on paying basis and all that and then let someone else run it while we watched. In case he does not do to suit, we'll take over the job again. We'll [ have written all the news and told you how every thing Is.
 am well as can be and haven't a single scratch. So you see every things fine
 Byc-byc. Love from your boy,
 RAY, (alias-Devil-Dog). !
 The following appreciation of the American fipLtiur man in France was