Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-08-16

thought the fire would get heavier
then. so l dragged the other chap into
one of two holes made by the shell.
Some pieces of the shell had stuck
into the dirt In the hole and they were
still hot Also. there was a sort of
gas there that hung around for sew
eral minutes, but 1t was not very bad.
The man began talking to me, and
he said II was an honor to lie on the
| field of battle with leg shot Off and
dead men piled all about you, and
| some not dead but grooming. He told
me I would soon, be able to hear the
grooming, though I had not said !
minded 1t, or anything about 1t. Then
he said again what an honor II was,
and asked II l had drink for him.
had not had any water all day. and
told him so, but he kept on asking
for II all the same. Some of the Turk
ish bombers must have sneaked up
pretty close to our lines, for when !
looked out of the hole toward our
lines, and a shell burst near them,
l could see Turk coming toward us.
We played dead then, but ! had my
bayonet ready for him In case he had
seen us and decided to come up to the
hole. Evidently he had not, for when
he got near the hole he steered to the
side and went around.
The other garby was cheerful when
he was not asking for water. but you
could see he was going fast. SO we sat
there In the hole and he died. Shortly
afterward the fire slackened little
and 1 got out and started toward our
lines. But / remembered about the
other wounded man / had passed
when I was carrying Philippe Pierre.
SO began hunting for him, and after
a long time l found him. He was still
alive. His chest was all smashed In
and he was badly cut up around the
neck and shoulders. picked him up
and started back, but ran into some
barbed wire and had to go around.
was pretty tired by this time and
awfully thirsty, and thought If did
not rest little bit could never make
1t. l was so tired and nervous that
I did not care much whether / did
get back or not, and the wounded
garby was groaning all the time.
So when l thought the shells were
coming pretty thick again got into a
shell hole and 1t was the same one
had left not long before. The dead
garby was there just as had left him.
The wounded one was bleeding all
over, and my clothes were just soaked
with blood from the three men, but
most Of all from him. There was some
of my own blood on me, too, for when
, was knocked down by the shell my
nose bled and kept bleeding for long
time, but, OF course, that was nothing
compared to the bleeding of the
others.
, The worst Of all was that he kept
grooming for water, and IL made me
thirstier than had been. even. But
| there was not drop Of water any
, IS here and / knew there was no use
, searching any bodies for TASKS. So
we just had to stick 1t out. Pretty
, soon the wounded man quit grooming
and was quiet. and l knew he was
going to die too. II made me mad to
, think that I had not been Of any use
In carrying these two men around
/, but II 1 had gone on with either of
them 1t would have been just the same
they would have died and probably
would have got II, too. When / fig
; ured II out this way l quit worrying
about 1t, only wished the fire would
let up.
, So the other man died, and there
, were two of them In the hole. read
!, the numbers on their Identification
disks when shells burst near enough
so that l could see them, and after q
, while got back to our lines and rolled
In. l could not remember the mum.
bers or the names by that time. but q
working party got them, along with
others, so Ii was all right.
My clothes were q mess, as / have
. said, and / was so tired thought
: could sleep for a week, but l could
not stand 1t in my clothes any longer
1t was absolutely against regulations
Z but / took Off all my clothes--the
blood had soaked into the skin--anG
wrapped myself In nothing but all
I, and went right to sleep. / did moi
! sleep very well, but woke up every
4 once In while and thought was IL
the hole again.
During the night they brought NJ
water, but was asleep and did no
know 1t. They did not wake me
u but two men saved by share
v though usually in case like that i
was everybody for himself and let tn,
last man go dry. You could not blam,
II them, either, so | thought II wal
e pretty decent of these two to save m!
9 share for me. ! believe they mus
u have had hard time keeping tn,
! others Off of II. to say nothing OF them
selves, for there really was not NOR,
q than enough for one good drink al
!, around. 1t tasted better than anything
IS l have ever drunk. Go dry for 2
n hours In the hottest weather you cal
?. find, do nights work like that, an,
q come to In the morning with til
i cup full of muddy water being handle,