Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-08
"GET THERE" SPIRIT
BUOYS U. s. FORCES
Harold F. O'Keefe. Philadel.
phian With Pershing, De.
scribes Yankee Confidence

American troops. buoyed up by the
spirit of the folks back home" are dis
playing q spirit Of individual confidence
and self-preparedness that is going to
give them the opportunity oc playing the
star Spangled Banner" |" Berlin.
This is the description of the Ameri-
can fighting men in France contained in
a letter from Harold =. O'kcefe, for
merry employed by the Public Ledger
Company. and now with Pershings ex-
peditionary forces. to a friend in this
city. The letter follows:
Mentioning the spirit and loyalty
with which the people back home are
standing behind the boys over. here
brings to mind the confidence and de-
votioi the boys place in the people back
home. Every "Yank'' knows that you
all are placing back of us your every
dollar resources and ounce of energy.
With such a feeling. how could an army
be anything but victorious? .r...
su"At the present writing the situation
over here is very slow and tiresome.
There is little or no action on any of
the fronts. but there is the assurance
of the impending drive. As one Of the
boys just back from the front said the
other day. we are just watching and
ready for EN- 1t is this spirit OF in
dividual confidence. and self-prepared-
ness that is going TO give us the oppor-
tunity of playing the Star Spangled
Banner in Berlin.
"One very noticeable characteristic of
the boys over here Is the welcome lack
of kicking and air of discomfort. The
fellow who in civil life became put out
when things did not go just to suit him
is now the chap who will put UP with
anything and actually smile and joke
when he has to sleep in a wet bunk
Men who used to rise at 8 a. m. and
complain, now rise and shine at $50
or s, go out and sit down to a break
fast of SOW belly rice and black
coffee, and call it great. They can. eat
any thing from embalmed beef to
corn Biz and thrive on it, This war
is being great equalizer of men, and
when II is all over we are going to be
bigger and better individuals for having
participated in It.
"For the last month we have been
| enjoying beautiful spring weather and
| the last week has been almost too hot.
We are still clad in heavy woolens, as
cotton is not authorized for overseas g
service, and the heat is very notice
able, especially when one does any walk
ins. Life at our present location is
! ideal, as we are in one of the old
walled towns of northeastern France.
| From the walls we command an arrest
ing view of the gracefully rolling valley
| six hundred feet below. We are In the
| country where Caesar battled the Gauls
and where later Constantine and his
army established strong positions.
Daily we see old Roman remains that
the art-loving French have collected and
in many cases preserved in their orig
inal structure. One old Roman gate
Of the city Is still in use and Is g,
we'll preserved that II will stand for
years to come. Many of the highways
OF this vicinity were built by the
Romans and today are the veins OF
transportation employed to defeat the
Hun. as they were in the days when
the Romans fought the same enemy
nearly two thousand years ago.
AT different times l have been for.
tunate enough to secure copies Of the
Public Ledger and the EVENING
LEDGER. and believe me, it was jus,
like getting back home to go over those
month-old copies. We get the Saturday
Evening Post weekly and the boys read
it from cover to cover. The Post Is maxi
ing q great hit over here, which means
an increased home circulation when al
of its loytl readers in the A. E. F. get
back to the States