Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-08-30
.B0CHES HAVE YANkS
ON JUMP, TRYING
TO KEEP Up TO EN-
LIEUT.. ROSWELL PETTlTT SAYS
AMERICAN BOYS HAVE WON,
WARMEST PRAISE FROM FREN-
CH ADES-AOSPiTAL Al
BUSY PLACE.

BUSY PLACE.
Working twenty hours day in a
crowded hospital receiving American
wounded Dr.. Roswell T. Pettitt criti.
cises himself for not writing bone of.
tener. In his last letter to his par
ents Dr. and Mrs. j. w Pettitt, he
has words Of highest praise for the
American soldier whom, he intimates,
IS kept busy trying to catch up with
the routed Hun. Wounded arriving
at the base are supposedly IRON the
fighting arouili Chateau Thierry,
where on July 1919 the Yanks began
their famous repulse of the Boche
hordes
The letter says.
July 26, 1918
Dear Father:
| suppose | ought to be court-mar.
tailed for not writing but somehow |
haven't been able to get down to it..
OF course, you know from the papers
about the big German drive thai start
ed across the Marne on July l4th for
the purpose of widening the salient
in preparatinn to the final advance on
Paris and how Foch jumped In on
them and how now We are pinching
them out This has been without
question the biggest battle since that
OK March 2lst ana Just as important
a victory for US as that was for the
Boche even more so. We are all
feeling very much elatdd and are all
! proud | can tell you of the wonderful
show put up by the American troops
The French are simply mad about our
men. There is one significent thing
have noticed. If You talk to an
American about the French. he says
they are wonderful soldiers and the
more he sees Of them til better he
likes them and admires their bravery
dash, and tenactity more every day
Ii YOU talk to a Frenchman, he says
here never were such soldiers as the
Americans! A mutual admiration so
ciety perhaps, but one of the righ
sort n NsN y
have never been buster than
have been the past two week but tht
I last few days our work has stacked III
/ bi. because there were no more bed!
in the hospital but We are evacuat
ing four hundred today and probabl!
will be having more come in tomor
row, During the frs two days of thu
I advance we had the hospital full ant
about two hundred of them Luckil,
II didn't rain. ! made something lik
/ five hundred meteorological eXamina
tcns-b0th cultures and microscopica
in less than week working clos,
to twenty hours a day Some of ou
surgeons worked IS hours straigh
and some of the streteher bearer
even longer But With it all ! under
stand our casualties were less tha
those among the captured Germa
prisoners 1t has been a won 1erfu
! party and think the Kaiser will hay
: to plr off his trip to Paris for som
time, Some of the stories the boy
| .ell are very funny. A negro privat
. captured German major He mad
! the major carry his pack and he wor
! the majors monocle-and comm
!. along the road, occasionally remint
1 ing the Boche major with his bayone
e he met an officer of this regimen
See what this niger done got, Cal
4 tain" he said
:. ! was talking to another lad VIII
9 was shot through the arm by one
4 our own men He and five otht
| Americans had captured tfty-seve
;. Germans and were bringing them il
h'lt NtIf 81 lew lIt
J.. weren't seen and our men opened fiji
4 on them and he got ii through tt
:. arm before they could make the othai
k understand they were bringing
|. prisoners!
il have been making vaccine for a
i aerial observer who wa temporari
attached to diyiion passing throug
r here After the fight he came back
g yesterday, ! believe it was, and to
- me he mad gone in as supply office
If This was one Of the older division
3 aud he said, Il have been with th
VI division ever since they came ov,
and been with them in every one
their fights always in the air Th
e time. for some reason ! didn't get n
order SO the Major asked me to act
supply officer Well, | went up wi
n every ration party and II sure W
d. some hell--villages blown to bi
"a 1t -.