Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-10-31
Paris. -"Will the Irish fight?"


The same old answer may be made.
They will. 1t can be made on the rec
Ords of two famous Irish-American
regiments in France. 1t is a record
that makes men Of Irish blood hold
their heads high. 1t is record that
betters the brightest page Of Ameri-
cas- most glorious military annals.
These two regiments Zone used to
be the old Ninth Massachusetts and
the other the Fighting Sixty-ninth of
New York; were in every bad scrap
the American army has been in. The
tales Of their prowess are just now
filtering back to Paris. They may be
told because the censor at headquar-
tiers has now ruled that regiments may
be named for their part in such fight
ing as preceded that on the River
Vesle.
The Ninth and the Sixty-ninth were
In almost all of it. The story does not
come from official reports. 1t comes
from the lips of two men, one doc
tor in the Ninth and the other chap
lain in the Sixty ninth, who saw what
they relate. These two have seen
many soldiers die. They know what
bravery and courage and cheerfulness
are.
Lieut.. Simon Kelleher of the Ninth
was in Paris the other day. He tells
the story Of his boys. And most of
the time he is either laughing, or tears
involuntarily creep out the corners of
his eyes and drop unashamed down
his Drowned cheeks.
Lieutenant Kelleher's stories show
that the Irish boys of his regiment,
the boys of Boston, South Boston, RoX-
bury, Cambridge and Charlestown,
fought with the cool courage that held
the fire on Bunker Hill until those
Americans of an earlier day saw the
whites Of their eyes," They show that
these boys-and most of them were
mere boys-died face to the front, a
grim smile on their lips, fighting. doing
their soldiers duty to the last breath
of ebbing life. Each heartbeat of the
all-toO-few left throbbed but to one
purpose-to fight. No man of the
Ninth died, says Lieutenant Kelleher,
without taking toll and more of en-
envy lives with him.
One for Each Shot
"Just now the names Of these heroes
may not be mentioned. But kelly
and Burke and Shea are there, all Of
them, and many more. Lieutenant
Kelleher says nothing of his own gal
lantry. But his stories show that he.
too, served. He was not called on for
the supreme sacrifice. But he offered
his life a thousand times on first aid
dressing expeditions to the farthesi
outposts and beyond.
sd been told there was wounded
man in an advanced traverse" he
says. II crawled slowly up to get him.
I heard his labored breathing in the
lulls of the gunf1re. And then round
ed the corner Of the trench. There
he sat, propped against the wall. His
breath came in tearing gasps and with
each one the blood gushed from his
chest; for he had been shot through
known all my life.
Ihey got you bad, Pack, said,
as tried to help him.
""They sure did, Sine he replied.
But looka there
Il followed the wave of the empty
pistol he still held in his hand, and
there stretched across the opposite
parapet were six dead Germans, one
for every shot in his gun. They had
got him only when the gun had emp
tied. / stopped the bleeding as best
I could and we got him back to an
ambulance. But he died four hours
later. l guess his life was well paid
for.
ut was this same sharp raid Of the
Germans that produced one of the
coolest bits of desperate courage l
ever saw. One of our boys had been
captured by three Germans and he
was being led off as they retreated,
one on either side of him and one