The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1918-12-19

Dn account OF the poor food and lack
OF treatment they had not even started
to heal. incidentally, the only cloth
bandages that any OF us had were what
we would tear from our clothes and
have seen men pick up an old dirty
rag that someone else had had around
his wound for long time and bandage
his own wounds with Il.
SO II was all ! could do TO drag my
self along. The officer noticed that I
was out Of line and Immediately asked
my name and nationality. When he
heard american" he could not say
enough things about us and called me
all the swine names he could think Of.
was pretty thin at this time and
getting thinner. so figured I might
just as well have II out before
starved. Besides. I thought, he ought
TO know that we are not used to being
bawled out by German swine In this
country.
SO I told him so. And I said that he
should not bawl Americans out, be-
cause America was neutral. He then
said that as America supplied food and
munitions to the allies she was no bet
ter than the rest.
Then I said: do you remember the
Deutschland? When she entered Bal
timore and New London she got all the
cargo she wanted, didn't sheT
"Yes."
swell, II you send over your mer-
chant marine they will get the same"
For that answer he gave me ten days
In the guardhouse He did not like to
be reminded that their merchant ma
rine had to dive under to keep away
from the Limeys.
i admit ! was pretty flip to this Of
ficer, but who would not be when a
slick German swine officer bawled him
out1
1t was while was In the guardhouse
that Mr.. Gerard, the American ambas-
sador. visited the camp. He came to
this camp about every six months, as
a rule. Even In the German prison
camps the men had somehow got infor-
nation about Mr.. Gerard's efforts to
improve the terrible surroundings In
which the men lived. Some Of the men
at Dulmen had been confined In vari-
Gus other camps and they told me that
when Mr.. Gerard visited these camps
all that the men did for week or so
afterward was to talk about his visit
and what he had said TO them. We
knew Mr.. Gerard had got the Germans
TO make conditions better In some of
the worst hell-holes In Germany and
the men were always glad when he
came around. They felt they had some
thing better to look forward to and
some relief from the awful misery.
Mr.. Gerard was passing through the
French barracks and a man l knew
there told him there was an American
there. The Germans did not want him
TO see me. but he put up an argument
with the commanding officer and they
finally said he could interview me.
never was so glad to see anyone as
/ was TO see him. The picture Is still
with me of him coming In the door.
We talked for about an hour and a
half, l guess. and then he got up to
go and he said would hear from him
In about three weeks. Just think what
good news that was to me!
They let me out of the guardhouse
and / celebrated by doing all the dam
age TO German sentries that i could
do. The men In the camps went wild
when they learned that Ambassador
Gerard was there. for they said he was
the only man in Germany they could
tell their troubles to. The reason was
that he was strong for the men, no
matter what nationality. and put his
heart into the work. am one of
things about him. Like many others.
II IL had not been for Mr.. Gerard
would be kaput by now.
A few days after this l was slow
again as we were marching to the
bread house and the guard at the door
tripped me. When | fell I hurt my
wounds. which made me hot. Now l
had decided. on thinking II over. that
the best thing TO do was TO be good,
since | was expecting to be released,
and l thought IL would be tough luck
TO he killed just before ! was to be
released. But | had been In the Amer
lean navy and any garby of the U. $. A.
would have done what did. II must
be the training we get, for when a
dirty trick is pulled Off on us we get
very nervous around the hands and are
not always able TO control them.
So ! went for the sentry and wal
loped him in the jaw. Then l received
his bayonet through the fleshy part of
the forearm. Most bayonet wounds
thar we got were in the arm. But
those arms were in front of our faces
at the time. The sentries did not aim
for our arms. you can bet on that A
wound of the kind got would be moth
ing more than a white streak II prop
erly attended to, but l received abso-
lutely no attention for II and II was
a long time in healing At that, l was
lucky; another bayonet stroke just
gra9ed my stomach.
| had been at Dulmen for three
weeks when we were transferred to
Brandenburg, Havel, which is known
as "the hell-hole of Germany" TO the
prisoners. II certainly is not too
a.