Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-04-26
TWO j. s. OFFICERS
DIRECT FROM FIRING
LINE REACH GORDON
LieutenantS HOmeiSter and
Riddle Will Aid French and
British Officers in Teaching
Latest Fighting Tricks

and hurried out OF the blood belt OF
/ France. rushed across the Atlantic and
then sent down into Dixie, two lieuten-
ants of the American expeditionary
/ forces arrived at Camp Gordon Tuesday
TO aid the French and British Officers
already there in teaching the selectmen
at the cantonmcnt the latest tricks of
the war trade.
The two lieutenants, wearing service
stripes in recognition of time spent N
the advanced war zone, jaunty overseas
/ caps with blue braid encircling the top
and the typical Sam Brown belts OF the
allied forces. presented themselves at
camp headquarters at 1915 o'clock
Tuesday morning.
Where from, sir" asked the infor-
nation clerk. addressing one OF the Off
GERS.
France" replied the officer. we
are here 10 report to the comma ndlng
general"
/ Back Prom FIRST Line"
And then they reported to Major Cen
eral William II. Sage; Lieutenant II. J.
Homeister. machine gun officer. and
Lieutenant r. c. Riddle, infantryman,
both fresh from the first line" They
were the first to arrive. Three other
/ lieutenants borrowed from General
! Pershing's army and assigned to Camp
Gordon are Lieutenants S. r. Kudner,
r. &. Call and r. +. House, and they are
due later.
/ Lieutenant Riddle is back in the
| state where he was trained to be an
| officer. having graduated from the
/ first training camp conducted at Fort
| Oslethorpe, Ga, and being sent directly
/ from that camp to Europe for service
/ with Uncle Sans expeditionary forces.
| Lieutenant Hoemeister is on strange
/ soil as he ent to the trench district af-
/ ter serving with the First Vermont in
/ fantry. His home is in Winoosd. VT,
while Lieutenant Riddle, a southerner
/ halls from Bowling Green, S. C.
The coming of these young veterans
| OF the European campaign brought
/ Camp Gordon into elbow-rubbing dis
lance with the war-swept continent, and
at the same time brought Europe a bit
closer to Camp Gordon and the national
army men being trained there.
They've Been There.
/ Lieutenants Homeister and Riddle
! have been in il. They have seen il all.
/ They have seen bewildered German
/ prisoners after their capture by Amer
| lean raiding parties; they have seen all
the little and the big acts of heroism
which have not crept into print; they
| have eaten turkey in the first line
trenches while bullets and shrapnel
| were whining and singing overhead
they have had Whit of gas a la Ber-
lin. and they have heard the roar OF
enemy cannon until it became a dull
and monotonous drOne. These officers
| now at the dusty camp site for an in
/ definite stay. have been through il all
| How do you feel over here after
/ life in the trenches?" the officers were
asked.
we miss the trenches" said Lieuten-
ant Homeister; they got to be like
home. Don't get the idea that the first
/ line trench is a death hole; il is not.
/ spent weeks in it, and it's a great deal
I safer than the support trenches i'm the
rear, as these trenches are constantly
under fire of the German artillery
But l want to say right here and
| now that the Americans in tho trenches
now being held by our forces are ca.
ger. capable soldiers and it is all the
/ officers can do to hold the boys back"
German Tricks
Lieutenant Homeister says il was not
until he took up life in the first line
that he really learned some of the Ger
mans cute little tricks. "One of the
things they do best" he said, lis to ap.
/ Hammered, Kamerad" They give that
. yell and hold up their hands as if in
surrender, and just as they reach tho
. trench they shower il with bombs which
4 they have concealed. The Germans are
nasty fighters. AS far as we learned
I they are very methodical. During my
| time at the front their artillery fire be.
( gan daily at regular intervals and we
( nearly always knew when to expect il
Don't worry about the way the
/ Americans are taking care of them
selves on the French battlefield. They
. take the war as something matter OF
I fact and during the time they are not
1 engaged in actual firing they play cards
I in the trenches and smoke all the time
The French have habit of making al
sorts of souvenirs out of implements OF
the battlefield. and many of the Ameri
can soldiers have adopted this trick.
Heroes Made Daily
Heroes, according TO Lieutenant Ho
. meister. are made daily in France. "Ont
/ Of the things which was burned into N.Y.
/ memory he said, was the action o.
two soldiers in holding of eighty Ger
/ man shock troops One of them was
machine gunner and the other was using
hand grenades. The gun suddenly be
I came clogged. ard as the Germans sweep
down upon the trench the machine gun
ners companion began to use hi
grenades. and the attacking Iarty wal
put TO rout. Two of the Germans were
I captured and both died later. One o.
[ them told US before he died that there
were eighty picked soldiers in tn
party
Another unforgetable incident of my