New-York tribune., 1918-12-24

Three airplancs flying for the SRcd
Cross membership campaign left their
route over Fifth Avenue yesterday
afternoon. swept over~the Hudson and.
with the clear blue sky for stage, per
formed for 5000 returning soldiers
coming up the river on two great
transports, the George Washington
and the Cedric.
The airplanes flew down so low that
the men could have heard the motors
easily ha@ it not been that hundreds OF
Whistles on land and water were trying
10 outGo each other As the Aors did
the nose dip and the tail srin and the
loop-tho- loop. crowds on the piers in
Manhattan and Hoboken shuddered for
fear something would so wrong. but
there were men on the George Wash,
ngton who only aughci
Served With Lufbery
They had done the same things over
the German lines Some of them were
made prisoner. others wore decorations
and one of them vas one Of the few
VINO are left who were in the fight
With the immortal Lufbery. lie wore
Serbian cross. two Croix de Guerro
aud an American cross. His friends
,aid he had others, but had misplaced
them.
1t was the first really clear day in
week that the city had to welcome
its homeward bound heroes. Far down
The bay early in the morning each ship
sighted the other, The Cedric had a
sood-sized lead. but there was race
on TO see which would get the welcome
frst. The Cedric docked in Manhattan
nearly an hour before the George
Washington, President Wilson's ship
10 France, was received at the army
nlers in Hoboken
Not all of the men on the George
Washington were on the decks to wave
to the cheering crowds on the pier
There were 1000 in the sick bay-ll
or wounded And the happiest sick
people in the world. Men without
rms. others without legs, laughe ed
and tossed their heads when they were
asked about their wounds. They just
wanted the newspapermen to say
something nice about Captain Nc
Caully and Chaplain Boonheardt, 70,
: was these two who relieved them of
the horrible thought that they'd have
TO go without decent Christmas.
1t wasn't the night before Christmas
IS it really should have been, but last
sunday night when the lights in the
hospital were all out and all the pa
ents we're supposed to be asleep.
Have Yuletide at Sea
From far down the deck came the
notes of Home, Sweet Home" and
blinking their eyes those 1000 wounded
and sick men raised themselves up on
their hunks and waited A quartet
made up of men of the crew entered
The big room and sang Christmas
carols, and when they finished all the
lights went on and Santa Claus ap-
peared.
Here I am again, boys, and haven't
forgotten YOU" he said.
Then he passed down the rows of
candies and, most cherished of all
honorable discharges. They had been
obtained from General Pershing before
the ship sailed from Brest. BY wire
less they were O. KID from Wash
ington.
at was the most touching thing
ever saw in my life" said the chap
lam. Sick boys who could hardly
move, wounded, suffering intense pain,
Il - L.
thought they'd be in some camp and
see nothing. I wouldn't have missed
our little Christmas celebration for
anything in the world
But as they said, the best of it all
was the first glimpse of New York and
the welcome; it was worth many times
What they had suffered for it, seemed
20 be the unanimous feeling. "Out O.
luck was the popular answer of
wourded men when they were ques-
Toned.
1878 on One Ship.
The George Washington carried 3,81S
men. Within an hour after the ship
cooked the men were hustling off to
camps, bat stories were told that
typify the sort of heroes the ship car
rled.
Take Henry c. Lewis, of Phiadel-
nhla lie was lieutenant IN the bomb
lng squad of the 96th United States
Aero Division and FIVE months in q
German prison camp He was inclined
TO be q bit hashful in talking about
himself, and it was only after he was
ae!uged with questions that he spoke
Word by word it was drawn from him
mat he was flying near Cologne one
day, when he ran into a German squad
ron and, after thrilling combat, wa.
brought down and taken to the prlsor
camp at Landshut. in Bavaria.
Two days after the armistice was
signed, and the whole Bavarian govern
ment was in an uproar over a revolu-
ton, took a chance and told the
SOCIALIST guard ! wanted to beat it
he was one of the revolutionists for
ne patted me on the shoulder and
seemed pleased that | had asked him
Get pair of crutches and make
cut you're wounded and will get you
out;S he told me.
Under the ruse that he was taking
me to another camp | got safely over
the Swiss border
Then Lewis pointed to Lieutenant
George Puryear, of Memphis, who, he
said, had had a real experience. He had
he was with the 95th Aero Squadron
and had just shot at German plane
which dropped to land, and he went
DOWN to see if he had actually downec
II, when he found he was on German