New-York tribune., 1918-12-12
Continued from page 1

the grinning face of a boy of nineteen
appeared.
"l'm from Chicago!" he shouted
ANY one here from Chicago?"
There was pause, and then, when
it was definitely settled that he was not
to be officially greeted by any one from
his home town, the crowd gave him a
whole party was from Illinois.
And this sam, boy-Billy Jacobson
is his name--later told story aboard
the ship that typifed what good many
others aboard did.
Jacobson was member of Company
D, 23d Infantry. He fought at Verdun
Louvain. Chateau Thierry. Belleau
Wood, Vaux, Soissons, Champagne
Laon and in the Argonne 1t was back
in March just west of Verdun that he
was shot in the arm, but he said not
to bother much about that and he went
on to tell about the time he disobeyed
his commanding officer and won the
Distinguished Service Cross for so
doing. But before going on with the
story he mentioned casually that he
had been shot in the face once at
! Chateau Thierry and gassed some other
time. He never bothered about dates
he said, except when something big
happened.
Didn't Obey, but Won
81 got the dope on a German machine
gun nest and l was telling the captain
could 60 out with a couple of men
and clean it out in about fifteen min
utes. He said something that sounded
like 'Nothin' doin'. G'wan back to your
command when | decided that
tion and l decided to clean the nest
out anyway.
II did go back to my command and
talked it over with three of my pals
They agreed with me that it ought to
be done and right then and there it
was going to be done. We started out
the four of US. The three other boys
were killed, but I picked up hand
grenade that hadn't been discharged
close enough to hear some of the Huns
groan, and then the rest of them peeped
up from some brush, and, waving their
hats, shouted, 'Kamerad!' I brought
eight of them back.
The captain was mad when he saw
me. He said: Didn't tell you to go
back to your command? Don't you
know you can be courtmartaled and
shot for what you did?' And said
l was sorry and ready to stand for
anything, but just had to do it. The
next day | got the War Cross
Captain j. Dickinson Este, Prince
ton. 'O9, commanding officer of the
18th Aero Squadron, told one of the
myriad of stories of American valor
the ship contained. On September
IL, with four other American fiers.
he flew 5000 feet over st. Mihiel. A
German squadron of seven machine at
tackled Captain Este alone brought
down four, while the rest were beaten
off by his companions. They all won
the Distinguished Service Cross.
Many Invalids Aboard
The kroonland arrived at Quarantine
Tuesday night. She left St. Nazaire
November 22 and Brest two days later
The 18th Division. of New England,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
William c. Dank made up most of the
complement. Among the invalds were
thrty-fye ,tubercular cases and thirty
two bedridden cripples. Most of the
wounded were able to take care Of
themselves, and within half an hour
after the boat was docked the wounded
were on the way to Ellis Island Hos
pital, and in less than an hour the physi-
cally fit were bound for Camp Mer-
ritt.
"Comin' home was worse than the
whole war;" one of the wounded said.
"I'm Irish and I want to see Ireland
freed, but I wouldn't cross the ocean
again to do it,
The trip of the Kroonland from Quar-
antne to Hoboken was a noisy, inspir-
ing event. All the sirens were turned
loose, factory whistles here and in
Jersey shrieked, and needless of the
driving rain and hail the soldiers
swarmed the decks and cheered until
they became silent from hoarsencss.
Germans Used Women
One of the first returning soldiers
to be interviewed was Private Julius
Mandell, Company I, gath Infantry,
whose home is at 982 Union Avenue,
The Bronx. He was wounded bv ma
chine gun bullets in the Argonne For
est. He said he saw German women
against the Americans. He gave one
instance when three of them were
killed. The Americans were advancing
so swiftly that when the women threw
off their service caps and displayed
their flowing hair, they did not stop to
think but bayonetted them.
Mrs. F. S. Kalk, of Washington, who
had charge of the Y. M. C. A. naval
hut at Brest, was a guest of honor on
the Kroonland. She is the mother of
Ensign Kalk, who was killed when the
destroyer Jacob Jones was torpedoed
a year ago. She returned at the in
vitation of the Navy Department to
christen naval destroyer at the Fore
River Navy Yard, to be named after
her hero son.
One of the most remarkable stories
of a nurses experiences in the war
was told by Mrs. Sarah Wellman, of
Chicago, another passenger. She be-
came separated from her unit in the
Argonne fighting, fell into shell hole
and remained there all night under
German fire and then was gassed on
her way to the rear the next morning.
Captured Enemy Guns
Paul Esposito, POI Brown Place, The
Bronx, attached to Company H, 3O7th
Infantry, among the wounded aboard,
was advancing in the early dusk of Sep
tember s in the big drive for Soissons
when he captured two machine guns.
He was on his way back with number
OF prisoners when he was struck by 8
machine gun bullet.
Captain Walter Camp, a son Of the
Yale coach. an intelligence officer in
the 28th Division, was aboard He
fought on the Marne and in the Ar
gonne from July to September 26, and
he was wounded and gassed.
Paula Sherman, known on board as