The sun., 1918-12-12

1FNAROLD HERO
SAVES is COMRADES
Wounded, Braves Enemy Fire
to Bring Help TO Shell
Hole Captiyes.
GASSED AND HIT ) TINES
Missile Strikes Tree, Is De-
Elected and Kills Newark
Soldier Below.
GASSED AND HIT ) TINES

f575 .Pitkin avenue. Brooklyn, from
fellow soldiers in France.
Delayed letters from the lad, which
had reached his home. had told of his
being confined in a shell hoe for
four days with nothing to eat and
only muddy water to drink. Melos
mentioned too that he had succeeded
in calling the attention of rescue
party to himself and his comrades
But that was all.
Yesterday his parents learned de-
tails of the affair, which took place
during the battle in which the Amer.
loan troops smashed the Hindenburg
line in September. Melos, with fifteen
members OF his company, were i'm
prisoned in a shell hole by German
artillery fire. Five pieces OF shrap-
mel were embedded in the Brooklyn
from mustard gas.
Dares All and Wine Through.
At the end Of the fourth day the
situation had become desperate Real
izing that help must come at once II
any OF the party were to be saved
young Melos volunteered for what
seemed like a forlorn hope TO bring
it. Crawling painfully over several
hundred yards of shell torn battlefield
with shrapnel bursting all about him
and machine gun bullets churning up
the earth at every yard he succeeded
in safely reaching the American
trenches and giving news OF the pre-
dicament Of his comrades. A rescue
party was at once sent them and they
We're brought back in safety.
Young Melos Is recovering at the
General Hospital at Cape May. n. j.
His parents did not even know he had
been wounded until they received Of
fetal word that he was being taken
there from hospital at Portsmouth.
Newspaper Man Wounded.
Lieut.. Frank A. Gale of the 316th
Infantry was wounded in action Sep
TENDER Fl, according to a War De
partment message received yesterday
by his wife, who lives with their
infant daughter in 167 Valley road.
Montclair, n. J. He had been detailed
as liaison officer on the STAFF Of Gen.
Evan NJ. Johnson with the American
Army OF Occupation. None of the
letters received from him has men
toned his wound.
Before entering the service Lieut.. |
Gale was a New York newspaper mar.
n Vfer hnAV
when he went into the army he was |
doing publicity work for the Ameri- |
can Defence Society. He is a son
OF the late Capt. Frank A. Gale. Sr. |
who was commanding officer of the |
Ninth Coast Artillery, New York Ma. |
tional Guard.
Nicholas Manetakis. 9S James stree. |
wired the War Department yesterday |
in an effort TO learn which of his two |
nephews, each one named John Plata
kis, had been killed in action. Merely
the name appears in the casualty lists
Both were drafted last April. One was |
in Company f, 329th Infantry, and the !
other in the machine gun company OF |
the 305th Infantry. Both lived with |
their uncle and held clerical positions !
here.
Detected Shell Kills Four.
Four members of the 312th Infantry |
were killed and nine others wounded |
when two German shells hit a tree.
under which the men had taken shell
ter, were DETECTED and exploded
among them, according to a letter
from Col. Alvord V. p. Anderson. the
n n OH
by Mrs. Edward Borhman of 10 West |
Park street, Newark. Her son, Fred |
erick w. Keller, bandsman, was one
Of the victims.
Il have seen hundreds of men killed
and wounded. but this was the most
incomprehensible occurrence that
came to my attention, and 1 cannot
but believe that Providence decreel
that your son should give his life to
his country" Col Anderson wrote.
After explaining how the regiment
had been on the firing line for several
days and then withdrawn into a VII
lage occupied by French troops which
was sheltered by a hill the Colonel
said:
The men were a bit careless. eX-
posed themselves when am enemy air
plane came overhead and as a result
we caught few shells. one of them
came in at my back door and ac-
counted for my entire mess--steward.
cook and waiter. The French re-
quested us to move and | went out
personally and hunted up the safest
place could find, a deep valley with
r steep hillside, some two miles back.
inspected the place myself and saw
no evidence OF enemy shell fire.
Bnndsmen Near Colonel.
THE command came in and dug intel
the hill. The band and sanitary de-
tachment were grouped right around
where l was sleeping. We all hadl
Off little fiat places where we
could remain In horizontal positions.
In the early evening the enemy
started what we called an area shoot
l watched this carefully. as I was
very solicitous for my men and no.
tced that all the shells passed twenty
70 thirty feet overhead. ] figured the
whole regiment was safe. Along about
midnight the enemy started, another
shoot. ] was awake at the time and
heard the shells passing over our
heads. Suddenly two almost follow
ing each other hit the branches of
high tree. were DETECTED and exploded
right among us.
j don't believe n shell ever struck
that hillside before. | don't believe
one mas ever struck IL since hut thOsa