Catoctin clarion., 1918-07-11
Meade Boys Well Trained.
MAY Now Be On Way TO France
What Camp Meade Is And what
Has Been Done There.

he lOIIOWIIs 10 PoAS,o
published in recent issue OF the balti-
more Sun. Because many Ihurmoht
bows have been in training at this Camp
and being in Maryland we publish 1t Tor
our readers.
Camp Meade, Md. 1t won't be long
before the men of the Seventy-ninth d.
vision will hear the call to battle.
1.-THE $1,000 and more men who con.
stitute that particular unit of the United
States Army are impatiently awaiting
the order that will send them overseas.
They will pack their cd kit bags with
eager haste and will start out on the long,
lorg trail to victory with song on their
lips and determination in their hearts.
And while the Meadites are 'oklng
forward to what is to come, it will help
to better understanding Of their enthu-
siasm to take a look backward at what
has teen done at this big cantonment
since les organization last September.
"While there are no members of the
10th Division on the fighting line in Eu-
rope. there are thousands of men from
this camp who have been waging the
battles of democracy against the boches
for several months. A conservative es-
innate would place the number OF Meade
men in Europe at the present time at
more than 40, 600. In the next few weeks
there will be approximately rs, 600 Mead
ties in the war zone, including the men
commanded by Maj-Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn
"Meade men who came to this great
cantonment as rockies have made the
supreme sacrifice upon the field of battle.
While no statistics are available on the
subject, it is generally believed that rec
ords will show that the first National
Army man killed in battle was trained
at this cantonment. He was young
Pole from the mining district OF Penn
sylvania. Many others who were sent
out from Meade are now bearing honor
able wounds.
Most of these $4,000 and more men
were sent from Meade to other camps to
fill up regiments to war strength. They
went into the Regular Army, National
Guard and National Army units-artll-
lery and infantry. Some of them went
into the Quartermaster and Ordnance
Corps and other branches of the service,
others are driving big army trucks lover
there" or tinkering with airplanes. Still
others have been commissioned aviators
'It is quite probable that the 3l3th
will have the distinction of being the
largest infantry regiment to arrive in
Europe. The are approximately $3.50
men in Baltimore Own" today. OF
course there many Marvlanders from out
side Baltimore in that regiment. There
are also 800 men from New York, Con-
necticut, Rhode Island and Massachus-
etts, but most of the men are from Bal
timore,
"At present there are more than as, 600
soldiers here, the high-water mark for
the camp. Hundreds of tents had to be
built to take care of the overflow. Things
will be all right and the overcrowding
will be eased up when the 18th Division
moves Those who will be left behind
will be the rockies of the l54th Depot
Brigade and members of various engl-
neering units.
"This has been a great place for engi-
neers. The 23rd Engineers, which is the
second largest regiment in the world,
with membership of approximately
10, 500 was here for several months The
organization is now in France as road
builders and engineers.
"Not only the privates and noncoms
have been promoted at Meade, hundreds
of l!eutenants and captains and other
high officers have been advanced during
the last 10 months.
"There is no chance of sketching on
paper the progress in military way of
the development of the soldiers at this
camp. The same thing seemed to be 60
ing on day after day, and yet the men
were being whipped into fighting shape
every minute. They were being taught
to bayonet the Hun. to shoot him, to go
over the top after him, to blast him with
hand grenades and to send him to King
dom Come with artillery fire. They have
been given boxing lessons by Tom Glib
bons, the pugilist, and have learned all
the wrinkles of modern warfare from
French and British officers. They have
dug trenches by day and by night; they
have been gassed and have gone on long
hikes. They have fought mimic battles
in rain and snow and sandstorms; in zero
weather and on days when the thermom-
eter lowered around 95. They have be-
come tanned and seasoned, agile and
strong and they are ready for the big
fray. An amazingly formidable looking
groop they are, but they sing as they 60
hiking along.
"Meade has done more than arm itself
to fight. In the Second Liberty Loan
the men of the Seventy-ninth
Division and attached units bought ST.
700, 900 worth of bonds. Meade finished
second among all the army cantonments
and camps in this country, That didn't
satisfy Meade. In the Third Liberty
Loan this cantonment stood first among
all the environments in the matter of
MEADE was the first camp to see the
demonstration of the Browning machine
gun and the light Browning gun and the
was the first division to be
fully equipped with such weapons. 1t