The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1918-10-04
Nv MARTIN GREEN,

By MARTIN GREEN,
Stafr Correspondent Of The 1nsellfgenccr.
1.-THE Infantry. the Infantry, with muo
behind their ears:
Tho Infantry. the Infantry. lnelr PaS -
in arrears
ARTILLERY and Cavalry and the lousy En-
gineerS
They couldn't Eek the Infantry IN
hundred thousand years.
In this articles l uIn going TO try W
write n tribute TO the private In the
army. the inconspicu"us douGhooy. VINO
finally wins the battles that the getler-
ais plan and the minor officers direct.
TIL. douShhoy does not ask for sympa-
thy. His opinion Of himself ts EXPRESSED
in tn. verse printed above which Is the
chant IT the American foot soldier IN
France. In al truth. and I say II In
Sp:r!: Of admiration and respect, no
American douChboy is abundantfy Se-A-
satisfied. He is honestly convinced that
hc &c tho best soldier in the word. and
that conviction goes Q long way toward
makicg him so good.
Probably the American douShooE
greatest asset next to his belief in his
Swn crnweSS and SrnartneSS. is his sense
* huynor. He is earnest enough wien
he has a Job Of lighting on hand, and
serious enough. too. but the frrrpresslole
American propensity to Josh crops
out frequently In the heat OF oateie'
The wounded in the hospitals while
away tho time Kidding each other. At
rest the doughboy's chief diversion is
trying to hang 4 joke on somebody. II
there Is a funny twist to any event, no
matter how ruomcntous, the doushooy
grabs tho twist
G1oomy Surroundings Yau to Depress
Spirits.
The most irving times the American
army has gone through In france were
associated with trench warfare last
winter and carly spring when our SOL
disra vrre in the Lorraine and EoSEcS
districts IN that territory there arc
only eleven weeks in The year when tiiin
;cn docs not form at night around the
,,,-os ~ noo,s and larger bodies OF sun
water.
outstanding tho gloomy sur
rount!rys thu. spirit Of the common SOL
dicrs mover n;,i;red. I saw regiment
in billcts III muddy. grIny little town
ono night in February. The men h'ed
marched nineteen miles that day over
roads coated with ice ana cut up by
transports. They were under orders 10
take the road again the neHt day. me
Headquarters was rather diSpirltlns
place. Many things needed had not
been supplied Motor transport was
sadly lacking Telephone conneScons
had been destroyed by q storm
Nome Of tho officers knew just where
the outfit WAS going. There was pres
.nt among the mon In command burn
ing desire tn connect up with railroad
somewhere and get aboard trains.
In the quarters Of the mon there was
a different spirit. After all. when he Is
not actually fighting. the infantryman
is content 90 let his officers do tho Wor-
ryinc FOR him. He knows that the 70
sspousih;l:ty for reaching an objective
in a. given time rests with men higher
up. Th, privates Of this regiment were
actually happy. They wer" Quartcrnd
. +, old French barracks and within these
quarters the only light was furnished
hv a scnnt supply of lanters and can
dies, Every barr;tck rang with shouts
and laughter a wise old major told us
why:
They know he said. that they arr
roinc. up where tho fighting fs. They
are on their way to the 'front.'
The Nearer tho Front the Keensr the
Fight
The next days march took Ae rcE1-