The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1918-10-30

lar scene. All along the line the anti
aircraft guns spoke. we could see
the shells burst all around the planes
half mile in the air. After a quarter
of an hour of this, during which time
the planes arrived directly overhead,
a hit was made and one OF, the planes
suddenly shot toward the north, fall
ing as it went. 1t disappeared just
over the hills on enemy ground, the
other planes following.
Austrians Shell Yanks.
Within two blocks Of our Y can.
teen long distance Italian gun spoke
in thunder tones every five minutes
Others were near by. The Austrians
were replying. A building just across
the road was struck.
That night we slept on the floor OF
the old school house in spite of the in.
cessant noise from the batteries. We
expected an air raid but it did not
materialize. The loss of two planes
the afternoon before evidently had
satisfied the Austrian curiosity.
| recall the trite saying perpetrat-
ed by some wag before the war that
life Is just one damned thing after
another" Life at the front is lot
of damned things all happening at the
same time. No wonder the boys are
so impatient to come in direct contact
with the enemy to get him face to
face, and end the everlasting nagging
they must endure just back Of the
front lines, when they cannot strike
back. Everywhere there are regula.
ors of traffic and numerous notice
boards. We are warned Of the "gas
zone." the "alert zone," that helmets
must be worn and respiratOrs kept In
ready position. There are signs that
"this road is under fire" that troops
must not congregate," that there must
be "no lettering" The most alarming
sign on the Italian front reads, Watch
out for avalanches here"
. Two Pictures
At evening time when the family
at home gathers around the hearth
stone and children beg for another
game or another story the boys over
here on the fighting line may be seen
with mess tins fetching the evening
meal. After having their tins filled
from the common tubs they sit squat
with the ground for their table, hap
by if they get through the meal un-
disturbed by the whine of shell.
The commander of this particular
unit of Americans who first reached
the Italian front was Baptist preach
er before the war. He left his, pulpit,
went to an officers training school and
was commissioned major We call
him the fighting parsbn. .
\ During a consultation with him 1t
was decided that there ought to be a
meeting Of the boys that night. The
meeting was held at $3.50, after dark,
in the open beneath some great trees.
We told the boys that they were
making history; that they were camp
ed on historic ground over which the
Caesars, Hannibal and Napoleon had
fought and that historians of this war
would record that on this day the first
American troops had arrived on the
front; that they had
come in the name of liberty and by
their valor they would not only pre-
serve the liberty of their own dear
homeland, but would secure 1t for the
people of all lands.
! A Meeting "over There"
Then the meeting became sort of
round table, informal affair. The boys
like to participate. Or course there
could be no singing. no cheering, but
just a quiet, home like affair. A pri-
vate read a poem that chap from a
trench mortar battery had written. 1t
ran: 49,.
There's little girl I'm loving in the
land across the sea, @.
Through the stiffness Of the twilight
she comes creeping close to me,
I can almost feel her handclasp. can
see her tender eyes
AS they glow across the darkness with
a light that never dies. F
There's a little girl, she's waiting in
" the, land across the foam,
And know that she, is praying that
swith honor I'll come home.
And | make myself a promise that I'll
justify her plan
The ideal that she sets me, of SOL
dier and man.
The silence that followed the read
ing was a better tribute to the senti-
ment expressed than thunderous ap-
plause. There was evidence Of emo.
ton among the boys which, was quick
ly checked by a story from lieuten-
ant. He told that General Foch had
said of the Americans that they came
to the Marne battlefield at the crucial
hour of the allied cause. One regi-
ment of our eight divisions reached
the Marne after forced march Of
over 100 miles. The Germans were
pouring toward Paris. At that partic-
ular moment, in that particular spot,
in the confusion of the line the order
for retreat was given.
No Retreat, for Yanks
Retreat! hell,' said the United
States colonel, II just got here!"
Then a Tommy who bad come with
us to the line recited a poem by an
It referred, to "Ameri-
ca, old Britain's thankless child, whom
we bade begone without our love or
grace f'. 's
But when the brunt Of battle shook
our sides
The forlorn soldier, who so nobly
fought,
Looked up and saw full armed, in tears
and smiles,
America, with the legions that she