Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-21
Germans Try to Gas
American BiLLetS
Continued from Page One

Continued from Page One
man officers told the Germans that
Americans killed all prisoners.
why, yes" said the German officer,
Don't you tell your men the same
thing about Germans?"
Prussian Admits War is Lost
The prisoner taken Monday. who
was a Prussian. said he did not be.
lieve Germany could win the war now
with America in 1t, but that Germany
would fight to the last man. He eX'
pressed the opinion that 1t would take
the Allies three years to drive the
Germans from France and Belgium
back to the Rhine.
If the French fighter would make
any criticism of the American fighter
it would be that the latter fights too
bravely. From a not inconsiderable
acquaintance with French officers
whom l have heard voice this opin-
ion | know that they feel that the
American soldier has not yet learned
the difference between bravery and
recklessness in this war.
It took the French the first two
ears of the war to learn this. One
Nears il said that the British have
not vet learned it. It is only much
experience and a certain physical
makeup that will give the fighter judg.
ment to tell in the heat of battle
beyond what point individual disregard
for peril may overstep the bounds Of
proper bravery and become improper
recklessness. which will cost his
country his services without proper re-
turn for the sacrifice. Perhaps 1t may
,,-ir 70
To illustrate what experienced
French fighters mean when they say
that Americans are too reckless. one
may consider the problem of taking
machine guns. which was large part
of the work in recent open warfare
in which the Americans showed that
the bows from peaceful home towns
who never knew war could become
ayenging demons on the field of bat.
| tie
Doughboys Rushed Machine Guns
When the Americans were ordered
to advance. if they encountered ma
chine gun they got it or it got them
| No deeds in the war have eXcelled IN
| bravery the conduct of the American
| troops who threw the Germans back
north Of the Nesle. Yet one machine
| gun position is worth so much in man
| bower and is worth no more.
But this feature had no considera
| tion in the minds of the doushboyS
| They just kept advancing until there
were no more of them or no more
machine guns.
MaChine-gun experts will say that &
| machine gun cannot be taken by
frontal attack of infantry, yet thai
is just what the Americans did time
| and again. They simply rushed these
machine guns on the basis that a gul
would get some of them, but enough
| would be left to get the German gun
| nerS. AS the casualty lists now belns
published in America show, 1t cost u:
many men to accomplish that.
When the French fighters on oui
flanks ran into machine-Sun nests
! they rushed them the same way some
times. But more often they held ui
the general advance until artillery
could hc brought to bear and unit
flanking movements could be executed
This means that the Americans gen
orally got their objectives a shor
time sooner. but next morning Away
found the FrenChmen had evened VI
the line on both sides and witt
smaller losses. What is true of tax
ing machine guns is true of othe'
Jobs in this war. Americans impetll
Gus and full of vim, do the job or die
Sometimes they die when there nigh
he other ways of doing the job.