The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-07-26

in Spezia, the Italian port officials
quarantined us for. fourteen days OF
account of smallpox. During this periot
our food was pretty bad; in fact, thu
meat became rotten. This could hard
ly have happened ON an American ship
because they are provisioned witt
canned stuff and preserved meats, but
| the French ships, like the Italian, de
pend on live stock, fresh vegetables
etc., which they carry on board, and
we had expected to get large supply
of such stuff at Spezia. Long before
the fourteen days were up we were
out of these things, and had to live on
anything we could get hold of-mostly
bareback coffee and cocoa.
We loaded a cargo of airplanes for
the Italian aviators at the French fly
| On the way back we had target prac-
tice. In fact, at most times on the
| open sea, it was regular part of the
routine.
1t was during one of these practices
that the French officers wanted to
find out what the Yankee gunner knew
about gunnery. At a range of eight
miles, while the ship was making eight
knots an hour, with fourteen-inch
gun I scored three d's-that is, three
direct hits out of five trials. After
that there was no question about it. AS
result, / was awarded three bars.
These bars, which are strips of red
hrai id tho loft clnnua Qn6
signify extra craftsmanship. / also
received two hundred and fifty francs,
or about fifty dollars in American
money, and fourteen days shore leave.
All this made me very angry, oh,
very much wrought up indeed-not
1 saw a merry life for myself on the
French rolling wave if they felt that
way about gunnery.
I spent most of my leave with my
grandmother in st. Nazaire, except for
short trip / made to star-shell fac
tory. This factory was just about like
one 1 saw later somewhere in Amer
lea, only in the French works, all the
hands were women. Only the guards
were men, and they were 'blesses"
(wounded).
When my leave was up and I said
good-by to my grandmother, she man.
aged a smile for me, though 1 could
see that it was pretty stiff work. And
without getting soft, or anything like
that, 1 can tell you that smile stayed
with me and it did me more good than
you would believe, because it gave me
good to think about when l
was up against the real thing.
| hope lot of you people who read
this book are women, because / have
had it in mind for some time to tell all
the women 1 could a little thing they
can do that will help a lot. 1 am not
trying to be fancy about it. and hope
you will take it from me the way /
mean 1t.
When you say good-by to your son
Or your husband or your sweetheart, |
want to do is to give him something he |
IAN think about over there, and some |
hing he will like to think about. There |
S so much dirt, and blood. and hunger,
md cold, and all that around you, that |
you have just got to quit thinking
about it, or you will go crazy. And SO,
when you can think about something
lice, you can pretty nearly forget all
he rest for a while. The incest things
you can think about are the things you
liked back home.
Now, you can take it from me that
What your boy will like to remember
he best of all is your face with
mile on it. He has got enough hell on
lis hands without lot of weeps to re-
member, If you will excuse the word.
But don't forget that the chances are
N his side that he gets back to you;
he figures prove it. That will help
ou some. At that, it will be hard
york; you will feel more like crying,
nd so will he, maybe. But smile for
i'm. That smile is your bit.
1 will back a smile against the weeps
D a race to Berlin any time. So am
cling you, and cannot make it strong
him away with smile.
NLAnrED In