Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-09-11

on the western front.
This was in May, 1917.
By August 1, most of us were full
fedged pilots, actively engaged at vari-
Gus parts of the line in daily conflict
with the enemy.
By December Is, every man jack of
us who had met the enemy in France,
with one exception, had appeared on
the casualty list. The exception was
III. K. Boysen, an American, who at
last report was fighting on the Italian
front still unscathed. Whether his
good fortune has stood him up to this
time I don't know, but if it has I would
be very much surprised.
OF the others, five were killed In ac-
tion-three Americans, one Canadian,
and one Englishman. Three more were
in all probability killed in action al
though officially they are listed merely
as missing" One of these was an
American, one a Canad dian, and the
third a Scotchman. Three more, two
of them Americans, were seriously
wounded. Another, a Canadian, is a
of the others.
What happened to me is narrated in
these pages. / wish, instead, I could
tell the story of each of my brave COM
radeS, for not one of them was downed,
am sure, without upholding the best
traditions of the r. F. G. Unfortunate
/ ly, however, of the eighteen whol
10I Jo
happened to be the first to fall into
the hands of the Huns, and what befell
my comrades after that, with one ex-
ception, I know only second hand.
The exception was the case of poor,
brave Paul Raney-my closest chum-
whose last battle witnessed from my
German prison-but that is story I
shall tell in its proper place.
In one way, however, I think the
story of my own ''big adventure" and
my miraculous escape may, perhaps,
serve a purpose as useful as that of
the heroic fate of my less fortunate
comrades. Their story, it is true, might
inspire others to deeds of heroism,
but mine, I hope, will convey the
equally valuable lesson of the folly
of despair.
Many were the times in the course
of my struggles when it seemed abso-
| lutely useless to continue. In hostile
country, where discovery meant death,
wounded, sick, famished, friendless,
| hundreds of miles from the nearest
neutral territory the frontier of which
was so closely guarded that even if
| got there it seemed too much to hope
that 1 could ever get through, what
was the use of enduring further
agony2
And yet here 1 am, in the land of
| liberty-although in a somewhat OBJ
Scure corner of 1.-THE little town of
Momence ILL.,, where L was born-not
very much the worse for wear after all
I've been through, and, as write these
words not eight months have passed
since my seventeen comrades and l
sailed from Canada on the Meganic.
Can it be possible that was spared
to convey a message of hope to others
who are destined for similar trials? I
am afraid there will be many Of them.
| Years ago I heard of the epitaph
which is said to have been found on
child's grave:
eff was so soon to be done for
What, o Lord, was ever begun forT'
The way 1t has come to me since I
returned from Europe is:
"If, o Lord, I was to be done for.
What were my sufferings e'er begun
for?"
Perhaps the answer lies in the sog-
gestion have made.
At any rate, if this record Of my ad-
ventures should prove instrumental In
sustaining others who need encourage
ment, l shall feel that my sufferings
were not in vain.
1t is hardly likely that anyone Will
quite duplicate my experiences, but
haven't the slightest doubt that many
will have to go through trials equally
nerye-racking and suffer disappoint-
ments just as disheartening.
1t would be very far from the mark
to imagine that the optimism which L
am preaching now so glibly sustained
me through all my troubles. On the
contrary, I am free to confess that I
frequently gave way to despair and
often, for hours at time, felt so de-
jected and discouraged that l really
didn't care what happened to me. In
deed, l rather hoped that something
would happen to put an end to my
misery.
But despite all my dependency and
hopelesSness, the worst never hap
pened, and 1 can't help thinking that
my salvation must have been designed
to show the way to others.
CHAPTER II.
Became a Fighting Scout.
started flying IN Chicago in 1912. /