Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-09-10
FRENCH RESPECT
YANK QUALITIES
Moline Boy Tells of Esteem in
Which L. S. Soldiers Fighting
Abilities Are Held.

The French have a great deal
Of respect for the fighting qualities
Of the Americans and the Yanks
think there is not a better soldier
in the world than Frenchman,"
so Arnold GulIberg, a Moline lad,
describes the attitude of the allies
lighting side by side in No Man s
land. In a letter received by his
parents, Mr.. GuIlberg, who is jim
the marines, tells of his experiences
in going over the top, and expresses
himself as having a lucky star fol-
lowing him for safely passing
through many sHrmishes on the
great offensive. The letter written
by Gullberg follows:
We have been in the fighting
which the papers have been full of
since the allied offensive started,
and believe me, it is real fighting.
We have seen the prisoners, ma
chine guns, artillery and ammuDi-
ton that have fallen into the hands
Of the allies. There were two Ger
man colonies with their staffs taken
prisoners l did not see them, as l
was not on the road when they
went past, but several fellows in
the company did see them as they
went by. In one cave 314 Germans
were taken prisoners. They were
taken by surprise and many of them
were still sleeping when the Amer
leans came up. The first day the
Germans were retreating so fast
inf a. M
not keep up with them.
i have seen so much Of this
large scale warfare that the sight
is almost beyond description
Tanks, large and small, armored
motor cars, artillery and last, but
not least, the French dragons.
They are the crack French cavalry.
Now that the warfare has taken to
the open they play a big part and
a prettier sight you never saw than
a bunch of these hOrsemen. Their
horses are all what you might call
circus horses and the men carry
lances about ten feet long, Just like
the knights of old I imagine they
can keep up with about any retreat
the Germans can execute.
Going over the top is not the
same as the impressions l got from
reading about it I did not see red
or blue OF a haze did not come over
my eyes. Nothing like that at all.
OF course, We in the machine gun
companies did not have to do any
hand to hand fighting or anything
like it Viewing the whole thing it
looked like parade ground ma
neuv6r. The waves OF infantry ad-
vanCing in skirmish formation
across an open wheatfeld about a
kilometre and a half wide. 1t was
in the middle of a bright sunny day,
so I could see everything that was
going on. The aeroplanes advanced
with us and poured machine gun
bullets into the enemy's lines.
We are now out of range Of the
boches and are to get a good rest.
The papers are full Of encouraging
news and up here al the front we
know that it is not printed for what
has been called home cOnsump-
ton but that everything IS
straight. You can see the differ
Ience in the Freuchmen. Before they
seemed TO have nothing but a grim
determination about them, but now
they are all smiles and hope. Since
we came into this fight we realize
what the allies have had to stand
for the last four years. The allies
/ in turn realize that Americans are
ready and willing to make the sac
rifces necessary to bring victory.
This afternoon I listened 10 a
/ little speech made by a Red Cross
man. He told of how the Red Cross
was helping them over here, and it
| sure was interesting. However, il
was not necessary for him to tell
US this. We all know that the Red
/ Cross is our friend and we certain
| " appreciate it You can tell all
the rest of your Red Cross friends
| this for me.
Hope that you are all well and
| that You do not worry. Am feeling
| better than ever and right now we