The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1918-08-02
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ALMOST A CRIME

Judging by letter from member
of the 161st Infantry, the old End
Washington, now in France, which
was published in the Seattle Times.
that fine regiment, made up almost
wholly of stalwart Washington boys,
has been so broken up by the transfer
of members to other regiments that
it ceases to be distinctive organiza-
ton. This seems almost like crime.
The state took a special pride In the
old End Washington. 1t was one Of
the old National Guard regiments,
served on the Mexican border during
the Mexican fiasco some two years
ago, was intensely trained until COM
ing almost under the head Of regulars
and was recognized as one Of the best
infantry units in the service when the
organization of the present great
fighting machine commenced. We
have had letters from people who saw
the boys before their departure for
over seas duty who stated that of all
the troops they had seen, and they
had had opportunity to see thousands,
the End Washington was by long odds
the best drilled and made the most
striking appearance on parade of any
regiment that had arrived and depart
ed from Camp Mills, New York. That
was saying much in favor of the regi-
ment, for regiments from all parts Of
the country concentrated at Camp
Mills before taking steamer for
France. The people of this state took
great pride in the regiment as espe-
cially representative of the manhood
of the commonwealth. Our residents
We're largely interested in the well
fare of the 161st, as number of
Okanogan county boys were serving
in the ranks. Now we know not
where those boys are, or to what units
in the service they are attached.
With the disintegration of the 161st
the state has not a distinctive regi-
ment in the service.
The article from the Seattle Times
reads as follows:
That the old End Washington In
fantry, including hundreds of Seattle
men and several from Port Angeles
has been largely broken up by the
of the battle needs in
France, and that great number OF
the privates of the regiment may now
be fighting in the front lines is indi-
Gated by letters from members Of the.
organization, now the 16lst U. s. In
fantry.
But standing out above all else as q
demonstration of the herOism Of the
men from this state is cited the fact
that when the orders came detaching
the privates of some of the companies
to be sent forward to the battle front
as replacement troops, leaving the
commissioned and non-commissioned
officers behind as skeleton" organ
ization, scores of the sergeants and
corporals, with tears In their eyes,
sacrificing their rank, added pay and
chance of promotion, and anxious
only to serve with their old comrades.
begged the officers to reduce them to
the ranks so that they, too, might 60.
Their requests were granted in a
number of instances and many team
of "bunkies" was made happy over
the fact that there would be no separ-
alton of it's members.
The breaking up of the Washington
companies was sOrrOwful affair for
the comrades who had served togeth-
er here in National Guard days and in
active service on the Mexican border.
According to all accounts. In describ-
ing the feeling in company A, Corpor-
a. Sam Grant, in letter received by
Mrs. w. r. Knapp, 2442 Fifth Ave. w.
says:
"All the privates are gone and only
the 'noncoms' are left. 1t was mighty
sad sight when they left. You can
imagine how they hated to part from
this company. AS for our captain, 1t
was an awful loss for him. He tried
mighty hard to keep the bunch to-
gether, but couldn't do it. He was
really heartbroken to see the men go.
Corporal Miller reduced himself to
a private so he could accompany his
brother.
"The privates were all in the best
OF spirits; in fact it was the happiest
bunch I ever saw in my life. They
were all glad that they were going to
perform the duties they came over
here to perform, and yet they felt
sorry they were going to be put into
different organizations. The chances
are We may never see each other un-
| til we get back to the States"