Grand Forks herald., 1918-08-28
used TO sneer at US American lads be-
cause Uncle Sam wouldn't get into the

H8nClnS IN france. Tho 6flGSnerd
used TO sneer at US American lads be-
fight for civilization.
| was obliged to lick one Of them to
make him stop saying rotten things
about Uncle Sammy. have often won
dered II the Englisher I pummeled
knows that the Reddy de Varila who
blacked his eyes on that memorable
day is the same De Varila who fired
the first shot for Uncle Sam against
the boche. If he does, maybe he has
forgiven me for the licking I gave
him. am certain that by this time
he has taken back all the unkind
things he said about Uncle Sam.
! warmed up good and plenty when
our Uncle Sammy told the German
ambassador to pack UP his duds and
! clear out OF America. I couldn't con-
centrate on my studies after that. The
print on my lesson books became
blurred, and all could see were
marching troops and maneuverine
battleships.
But the bottom dropped clean out
Of my education when congress buck
ed up to the occasion and declared the
United States at war with the German
empire.
Wow! Every nghting De varila in
the whole list of De Varilas seemed
to rise UP before me in spirit and an
nounce:
boy"
That settled me; determined to
get into the scrap while the getting
was good. was eighteen then, and
big for my age. All I needed was
my mothers signature to precipitate
me into the biggest war in history.
packed my suitcase, went home and
told my mother I was going to enlist
in the United States army.
She was game and didn't even
blink a tear. And why shouldn't she
be game? She was Irish. her father
had fought under Grant, and besides,
You are a De Varila," she said,
''and I'd be ashamed Of you If you
didn't want to go. Your father and
both your grandfathers went in when
they were eighteen"
Her voice shook a little bit, and
the next morning 1 noticed her eyes
were trihe red.
T enlisted in Battery G. Sixth Field
/; Artillery. U. 8. A., April Is, 1917.
nineteen days after the United states
jumped into the war;
| was proud as six-year- -old boy
just learning to whistle when the
army doctors looked me over and de-
creed was as sound as copper from
head to toe.
I was hustled Off to the recruiting
barracks at Angel Island in Frisco
Bay, and was inoculated and vaccin-
ated. I was pretty, miserable Tor
brands 81 anti-disease virus which
they pumped under my hide, and on
the whole I felt like an animated
fever blister. But Just as soon as the
effects Of the vir0s wore away. I de-
veloped the appetite of an army mule,
and took on weight like a woman
who ie kidding herself with one of
those anti-fat treatments.
EARLY Training.
cluding uniform, underwear. ieggings,
shoes, mess kit and blankets and
shipped to Douglas, Arizona For
eight days We raw recruits were kept
shut up in a quarantine camp, and
after that followed weeks Of arduous
training on the Mexican border. 1t
was tough grill, but it made every
man-jack Of us hard as rocks.
Our training embraced bareback
ment, and. the grooming of horses
We were given an idea Of the various
parts Of the field pieces. and engaged
in battery drill and target practice
with three-inch guns. We put in a
| lot Of work on those, guns, little
thinking that we would handle an en-
tirely different kind Of field piece
when we arrived in France.
I became the driver of the lead
team Of the first section field piece,
| and before many weeks bad passed,
could maneuver that piece like a
veteran. BY listening to the fiery
rhetoric Of eome Of the time sdriv-
| ers In the battery. learned thArA are