Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-07-19
EPIC OF BELLEAU WOOD.
History hokfng Deeds Msttls of the
Unttsd States Soldiers.

From Daily Mail. London. Iuue17
WITH THE AMERINAN ARMY.
Heavy artillery fire has marked
the activities on the Chateau Thier.
ry front today. The chief interest
here, however, still lies in the cap
ture of Belleau Wood. This
achievement, so dramatic and so
full of exciting episodes, so won.
derful and yet so melancholy, will
certainly live in American history.
The operrtion was small, it's mill
tary value. even when attained,
not arpreciably great, but the
amazing endurance of the famous
unit that captured and held the
wood, their dash and bravery, will
long endure as an inspiration to
the Ameaican troops who follow
those who havo fought so we'll.
To-day I have spent in the com.
pany of men who orginallywrested
the Bois de Belleau from the Ger.
mans. Among these brave men
have listened to stories of heroism
too numerous to recount. The
leader himself, a man whom the
soldiers speak of with enthusiasm
when they tell of his bravery, told
men of men lying in holes hardly
two feet deep, always under in.
tense shell fire, without food and
water and rest, ready at any time
to advance at the word.
A man would hear one of the
hundreds of machine guns that the
enemy massed in the wheatfields
around the wood open fire. With
a curse he would, Immediately
without orders, move in the direc
tion of the sound, and either kill
by rifle fire or bayonet the men
around the gun. The men again
rounded up machine, guns in this
manner, and considered such feats
as nothing extraordinary but all
in the game of war.
fOne sergeant captured three ma
chine guns single handed and was
killed while attacking a fourth.
AhOCner gallant gentlemen from
America rushed at a machine gun
placed mis- hand over it's mouth,
lifted it up and then bayonetted
those who were left. A hand with
five bullet wounds in it was his re.
ward. Such reckless bravery as.
tOnished the Germans, who could
only surrender. Officers who
fought In the action also told me
of man who after two runners
had been killed before his eyes,
stepped up in full view of the en-.
emy and calmly asked an officer
for orders.
LIFE'SAVING INCIDENTS
Stories of privates taking over
the commands of platoons and ser.
geants revealing unexpected abil.
ito when all but one of the officers
were killed and wounded, of men
saving lives under torrents of
shells, were all told to me, and the
capture of Belleau Wood, when
written in history should certainly
aroused the pride and quicken the
hearts of every American.
In the military qualities of accu.
rate shooting, initiative, keenness
and intelligence, the men who
fought could not have been sur.
passed. But it is for their hero
ism that the men of this unit will
lodg be known. 1t was composed
of all types of men, with names of
every possible origin.
Some men had relations in Ger.
many, others were Russian in orr
gin, while among those recon.
mended for bravery is sergeant
whose home is at All Sandic in
Austria. All the men of this unit
are voluntarily recruited, and |
met today non commissioned off
GERS who left universities when
declared war to join the
unit, and Others who were the sons
of some of the most notable men in
America today.
q. ...s, A--~~
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