The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-30
HOME ON LEAVE
Lieut.. Frank Willard Visiting
Parents in Topeka.
He Tells of Naval Work Doing
Transport Duty.
PRAISES u. s. DESTR0YERS
He Tells of Seeing TOpekans in
N. Y. and France.
Few Yanks Will Marry French
Girls, He Thinks.

mountains of sliced bacon that l saw
unloaded at the port of Brest IN
France" Lieut.. Frank Willard SAID
today, in telling of some of his ex-
periences as an officer in the United
States navy in the transport service
1.-The boats going over carried every
thing that the Americans could use,
including cars locomotives that were
assembled in France, railroad ties,
rails supplies-the vastness OF the
transportation system conducted py
country is staggering
Lieutenant Willard was given a
leave of absence to spend ThanksSiv-
ing at home with his parents. Mr. and
Mrs F. G. Willard, and Monday ne
will leave for New York, to resume his
duties. His ship, The Wilhelmina,"
is now in dry dock for repairs which
accounts for his leave for the trip in
land.
Lieutenant Willard, one of the big.
fine looking officers home from the
wars is wearing his gold chevron on
the sleeve of his army coat. The stripe
is worn only by those who have writ
ten permission from the commander
1t is awarded for certain length OF
service and for other reasons. Lieu
tenant willard is entitled to wear his
both by duration of his service ana
because his ship was known to escape
twice the torpedoes from enemy sub
marines The crew of the vessel saw
two of the torpedoes aimed at them,
and are unaware of others that prob
ably were launched in their direction.
The transport on which Lieut.. VIII
lard is deck officer, carried both
supplies and to Europe. and on
their return trips they have been
bringing back an average OF Zoo
, wounded men each time. THESE
men," the lieutenant said, ARE as full
of cheerfulness and laughter as when
they went over. There they are with
legs or arms shot away, or with shat-
tered limbs. with the most serious
kinds of wounds, but they Will tell
you, almost to a man. that theF would
rather come home like that than not
to have had a part in the fight. They
will tell thrilling stories of their ad-
ventures and the battlefield sights
The government is first returning the
Those less gravely injured will be re-
turned later"
Few Have French Girls.
Lieutenant Willard believes that the
report of the large numbers of Amerl-
can men who are marrying French
girls is all talk" why he said,
these boys can't speak their Ian
guage, except in rare cases. and it
isn't fact at all that many of them
are marrying the French girls"
< The officer spoke emphatically of
the credit due to the destroyers in the
"A
of the troop ships sent over Il was
not destroyer seaman" he said, but
l law the work they did and got some
realization of the difficulties under
which they did it. Their branch of
the service carried with it great dan
gers and hardships, and it is to them
that the greatest credit for the scme
transportation Of our troops is due"
Lieutenant willard explained some
of the duties of a deck officer on
FNy%t DC nr1n nf he
duties of deck officer to act first and
with the utmost speed and GOODNESS
when a submarine is sighted. He has
to turn the boat to give the smallest
possible target for the torpedo. and
he has to speed up the ship to hurry
it out of range. The officer explained
also the advantages as a training for
seamanship in the convoy service.
where all the tactical work is required
that ordinarily is to be found in fleets
The radio service on board the boat
brought daily press reports from all
the fighting nations. I'VE got our
daily reports from Germany" the
lieutenant said. Just as We did from
England and Paris and America. The
German news was chiefly of a politi-
cal nature and was crowded with the
propaganda that nation continued to
put out to he very last. The reports
We're given us in English and were
great in their play for American good
Will. w nedTu our DTeSlutnl 1ulSolnt-
ly praised. and we heard England
soundly berated. At the last. about
the time of the signing of the armi-
stice, all the reports were about the
German republic and the encourage
ment it would expect from the United
States"
Lieutenant Willard was in the port
at Brest when the news of the signing
of the armistice on November IL
reached the city. "Aircaft of the
French and Americans there were
adorned with streamers and flags, and
were sailing above the town. The port
guns and the ship guns were fired.
decorations were everywhere. pa
rade of a long line of French and
Americans and English went down the
street. and ahead of them went a line
of littleboys wearing German helmets
or any trophies of victory they could
lay hands on, and all singing at the
top of their lungs. Hail, hail, the
gangs all here in as good English
as one would hear it sung in Topeka.
Brest is really an American port, hav-
ing been turned over by the French
to the use of the Americans. The
French people there have picked up
lot of English. and the children speak
1t very WE'LL
Saw Many Topckans.
Lieutenant Willard has seen a good
many Topekans since he entered the
service IN NeW OTk ne saw Roy
Cope who is with the navy, and in
Nantes. France, he ran across Laudon.
Cope's brother-in-law. In New York
also he met Chester Wahle, who is
an officer and was awaiting his orders
for overseas service. He saw Leon
ard Kline, who is an ensign. now do
ing shore duty along the Atlantic
coast. In Detroit he met Alden
Weightman. an instructor in an avia-
ton field.
Lieutenant Willard took the train
ing in Pelham Bay. New York. After
training a few months. he was sent as
cadet on a voyage to Jamaica,
Panama and South America. and on
two trips to Port Arthur. Texas. He
went into transport service in Septem-
Der. 1917. and expects to remain in
that work; bringing home American