The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-08-20
1t. SHARP TELLS
VIVID STORY OF
MARINE BATTLE IN
LETTER TONOTHER
Moorhead Man Through
Entire Engagement With
Attacking Battalion
KNOCKED DOWN
) BY HUN SHELL
Major Wounded By Same
Explosion, But "a Carries
On" Says Soldier
MEETS OLD FRIEND
ON BATTLE FIELD
Sergeant Captures $50
Boches SingLe-handed
High Praise
KNOCKED DOWN
) BY HUN SHELL
MEETS OLD FRIEND
ON BATTLE FIELD

Knocked down by ! at the
commencement of thI IN me
second battle Of TIT .-i'' DuI
coming through the .1os-.. 'Ighuhg
with hardly a scratch "ua the eN-
perience of Lieut.. James H. Sharp
>Tr a MoOrhead man who wrote TO
his mother under da=s July rs. II
gives a vivid description OF some
of the things that transplred ana is
the first account OF the DatIIe re-
ceived in MooVhead from one VINO
was in the thick of it from start 70
finish. Lieut. Sharp is the son OF
Judge and Mrs. James Sharp OF
Moorhead, and is a Fl. 0nedhng
training school man.
The letter follows:
eH'Dearest Mother; l hope you have
not worried much about me. My life
is as charmed as ever and have
came through the late heavy fight
ing with hardly a, scratch. This Is
the very first opportunity l have had
to write for ages. Am trying hard
to send a cablegram so you may
know at once that l. am safe and
we'll. We are getting some much
needed rest and l hope to be fbbla to
write very often for a While, at
least. I am pretty bElsy because [
am battalion adjutant and scout Of
sRcer both for the time being.
= 1.-THE great battle was certainly o.
wonderful experience and we sue
zceeded so we'll The Boche never
had a chance. Ours was the at
hacking battalion of the regiment and
we were scarcely tmpeded until we
had attained our final objective. We
fac -
fcers, and captured a great number
5nf machine guns and cannon and a
vast quantity of munitions. It was
wonderful.
* Knocked Down by" Shell.
"At the very start Of the advance
!. big shell burst directly in front Of
the major and me, knocking us both
TO the ground. A fragment struck
Fba major Cbis name Is Fechet) MAX
ing a. mean little wound. Like the
Gallant leader he is he carried on
and fought through the succeeding
DAYS with nothing but a first aid
bandage on it.
8 After a battle one narvels to find
ones limbs intact. In the heat of
the fight there is no thought Of
wound or death. But when 1t is all
over one realizes that 1t really is a.
rather precarious business.
g Il met Ed Flynn on the battlefield.
He is a private in Company G, my
old company. 1t was his first time
under fire but he behaved splendid
ly. I spoke to his captain about him
and he is to be sent to an officers
training school.
y Meets "Litz" BUSINESS.
Saw 'Litz' BUSINESS (Lieut. L. W.
Rusness) about two weeks ago. He
hooked fine and it certainly was good
TO see him.
-. Have not gotten much mail in
the past few weeks. but it certainly
has been inspiring when it has come.
1t has always arrived just before or
just after going into action, when
thoughts Of my dear ones at home
are uppermost in my mind. This
last time particularly, I was nearly
exhausted after the battle and very
lonely for the dear friends who had
gone west. l was sick at heart I'M
til the chaplain handed me a little
package of Ietters-one from Dad,
one from Julia and Marianne, one
from Delnhy, and one from Louise.
God bless you all for writing them.
"TeII Julia that have a beau
tifuI pair of field glasses that
took from a Boohe officer. He
was one of these cold, sneering,
'hochtzebom' PrussIans so
handled him like the murderer
he was. | had five different
pairs OF glasses but couldn't
carry them. You may also tell
uncle that | filled his contract for
him. He wanted mo TO get a
hundred extra 'Botches' for him.
The major, my scouts and got
that many in one bunch. One of
our sergeants captured $50 single
handed. These stories seem i'm
possible but they are absolutely
true,