The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-08-21
MARINES HAVE NO
DREAD OF HUNS
Wounded Are Only Anxious to Get
Back Where the Battle
Is Raging.
ONLY CONTEMPT FOR ENEMY
Say When They Get Into Actual Fight.
ing Contact With Foe There
Is No Fight Left
in Him.

London.-A naval attache who saw
about so American marines in hospital
suffering from wounds or gassing in
the recent German offensive found
every one of them full of cheer regard
ing the future; every one anxious to
get well and be back in the fighting
line. And every one of them held a
poor opinion of Fritz as a fighting man.
They were unanimous, the attache de-
clared, in stating that the Germans
were long-distance fighters only. AS one
Of them said:
SO yards away with machine gun, but
at close quarters the German soldiers
are no good"
Marine after marine asserted that
when he and his comrades got into ac-
tual fighting contact with the enemy
there was no fight left In him. Then
the Germans would throw down their
guns, and, waving their hands over
their heads, cry out "Kameradw
Feel Contempt for Huns.
sour men," added the attache, "gave
me the impression of looking with ut
:er contempt upon the German soldiers,
who can fight only when they feel that
hey have the protection of artillery
md gas, and surrender when 1t comes
to hand to hand fighting.
"Far from feeling the slightest dread
If the enemy, every man expressed
| 10 inf of hnGnffa1 a
return to the front. Every one of them
wanted a chance of getting even with
he Germans for having been gaSsed
)r wounded.
"The men were justly proud of the
record that the marines had made, and
their morale appeared to be of the
very highest quality. The cheerful
less of all. including some infantry in
he wards, may be summarized by the
,emark of one recovering from gas:
Why he said, there's nothing in 1t.
When all of us marines get going, we
will wipe Fritz off the map, and we
will eat our next Christmas dinner at
nome at that"
A British officer who has seen much
IF the American marines at their head
quarters in France, and seen them at
work against the Boche, writing on
what he describes as "an instructive
glimpse at the American war spirit
md American efficiency in the field"
says:
"On the roads to the front there Is
perpetual movement. Hundreds of mo-
or lorries, each one packed with
French soldiers, pass us in quick sue
,ession on their way to another part
If the line. Again and again we pass
bodies of American troops on the
march, then group of women and
children. Although the road winds
over the face of well titled country
side, few birds are seen, except for an
occasional pair of ring doves. Such Is
he incongruity of war!
Aircraft Hum Continuous.
"We find the marines headquarters
At an old farmhouse. shut i'm on every
,ide by woods. Here the hum Of air.
raft is continuous, and links up the
Intermittent crash of artillery fire. A
Boche observation balloon hangs above
the woods to eastward, and 'woOlly
oear' shell lays vivid black smudge
against the limited skyline ahead. In
he farmyard we seem to stand in a
little world apart, but the sounds Of
adjacent fighting are close about us.
"a marine officer who has had no
sleep for three nights comes in, dusty
)ut cheerful, from the trenches. The
marines are doing themselves proud
Dut there, he says. There has been
some stiff fighting in the woods, but
the Boche will have to shift soon; that
s the opinion of this old campaigner,
who has fought by sea and land all
over the globe. We leave the farm
under the guidance of young lieu
.enant, a broth of boy with the
face Of a Greek god.
"A rough cart track runs behind a
belt of woods, and in this vicinity the
, American artillery is stationed. We
. approach one of the batteries, well hid
J len even at close quarters. A teie-
phone fixed to tree trunk rings sharp
y. and the captain, capless and with
out tunic, a megaphone in one hand,
answers the call.
avery good, sirr He swings round
to the guns.
"'On barragel Firer
: Through the megaphone his order
penetrates to every corner of the wood
: and the gunners leap to their work In
moment. Crash! Crash-C Crash
Crash! The guns fling out their deaf.
ening message of death almost stimuli.
taneously. and In the momentary ST.
ilence between the rounds the whizz OF
.ae shells can be heard as they 1x On
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