Bisbee daily review., 1918-08-21
TRENCHES MAKE
 ALI DIVERSIONS
 TAME SAYS MAN
Lieutenant With Marines Says That Life on the Fighting Front Is One of Great Ex- citement

T marines, brother of Mrs. Charles F. Willis, of Bisbee.
 Lieutenant Heckman enlisted in the marine corps as soon as war was de- clared. Shortly after he arrived in France he was commissioned an of- ficer He has been wounded and has been cited. for gallantry In acCon by the French and American command CTS.
 In a letter to his mother, which is here reprinted, Lieutenant Heckman tells something of one Of the attacks in the Chateau Thierry region when the machines prevented the Germans from increasing their drive against Paris.
 The letter follows:
 France, June 29, 1918. Dear Mother:
 With the exception of my note a week ago this is my first letter to anyone in over a month. Don't think that l did not want to write, but we have been in the hottest sector in France France ever since Memorial day night. Mail both ways has been closed. l suppose you have been hor- ribly worried, but dear, it is just the same with the mothers of all the U. S. NJ. c. and andbody with a son can be mighty proud, as they sure did put the fear of God into the Huns. We have caught hell ourselves, but will forget that
 I have been through so much in this month that 1 feel a hundred years old and l don't believe there can be any more thrills or horrors. left for me Everything will be just commonplace
 To begin with, 1 was out of the trenches one Sunday, the one before Memorial day, and as l had not had a chance to go near a church since Christmas, l went to mass and com munion. I knew we were in for the big drive and prayed God that if I got mine that I would take it like a soldier. Prayers surely help as l had many miraculous escapes.
 In the first attack three weeks ago we went two kilometers under hor- rible tire before being stopped. After l had my last wave of the platoon iE the line there was nothing much could do from a tactical point of view so l took the rifle from the man be- side me who had been killed and took up the fire. l had fired only three shots when a machine gun bullet struck it. It knocked it from my hands and splintered the piece. Had I been without it the bullet would have hit me squarely in the head. My runner handed me another rifle from wounded lad so I kept on firing.
 Later while my platoon was holding the extreme salient of a captured viii lage we were attacked at dawn. It was too smoky from high explosive shells to see well, so I withheld fire until the Huns were within fifty yards and then we practically wiped out the raid
 In our attack on a machine gun nest in thick woods three days ago l had the left flank. We gained our objec- tive with bayOnet and grenade in hand to hand fighting. Then to my left l saw a party of about fourteen boches. They were heaving grenades at us from trees. There was also a NJ. G. not captured. I took eight men and we got the men in the trees. reached the NJ. G. with only two men. We got it, and a boche officer was in the pit. I grabbed him by the scrGi of the neck ana took him prisoner. He spoke English and l told him to get the rest of his men without arms and surrender or we would kill them all. I marched him holding his neck and my gat at his ribs so that if they fired on me they would get him first He had about a company of ninety men. With the two men with me l got ltr ha .,f nd m, which had been passed over as we rushed forward opened on us. It got my men and the prisoners started to bolt so I threw six grenades into the bunch of them and emptied all but one clip of my gat into them. l then had to get over to the company again and got the men to round them up again, which was easy after getting the M c. It was one of the hottest, bloodiest fights of the war. It was cnly on a small woods, but was hell to take, four or five attempts having failed
 The day before the fight I was eat ing breakfast in a short section of trench with my orderly and seven men Six shells dropped and ruined the trench, burned my face and eyes by the explosion and covered Us with dirt l crawled out and found my mess pan blown up and four of the men dead and four wounded. I alone escaped.
 get my wounded men first aid and laid blanket over my men who were killed, and went to the company P. C. 10 report to the captain.
 just got there when I sank like a rag and cried like a baby for three hours My eyes were so bad that the hospital apprentice told me to go to the dressing station, but as our com pany was in bad shape for officers. did not go and am glad l stayed, as the big scrap was the next day.
 Am now in a good sector. but not yet out of range of the big guns. but hope soon to get where I cant hear them, need rest
 For a month have had times when ] was two or three days without sleep, only iron rations. water once day or even at times once in two days; shells and gas continually and on the alert all the time.