Evening star., 1918-08-11
Fearless Fighting Described
: in Letter to Comman-
dant Barnett.
"REAL FIREWORKS"
|, MARKED JUNE 6 CLASH
Men Went Down Like Flies as
They Charged Through
Barrage.

mandant of the United States Marine
Corps, has received a letter from
France giving the following account
of the taking of Belleau wood ana
Bouresches and other operations OF
the marines in that part of the front:
1--WE have all been under terrific
drive from the time We left our rest
area on May so and left our trucks
and went into line the afternoon of
June /.
IT feel I can say without boasting
that the Marine Brigade not only
lived up to the very best traditions OF
our service, but even surpassed them
at times, because we never faced such
odds and never were confronted by
such a crisis.
I'VE left our rest area at am.
May 81, in camions. twenty to thirty
in a camion, having bivouacked tne
night before. as we had expected 70
leave at and again at 10 that night.
We took a route that Skirted within
fifteen kilometers of Paris. and when
We reached those villages we realized
that we were really on our way.
Saw First Fugitives.
Then, as we neared Meaux. we
saw our first fugitives on q road
that was a living stream OF troops
in camions. guns and trains. hurrylng
to the front. And the refugees went
straight to the heart of us. When
we saw old farm wagons numbering
along, with the chickens and geese
swung beneath in coops, laden down
aJy-o ~
driven by boys of nine or ten years,
little ones trotting along at their
mothers skirts, tired out, but never
a tear or whimper; saw other groups
camping out on the road for the n1Snt,
there was the other side, the side
that think fred the men to do what
thev did later
1T was late in the evening when
we were diverted to the right of our
first destination, 1t was midnight
when our 1St Battalion halted in their
trucks at a point seven kliometers
back of where we finally went INTO
line, and officers and men biVouacked
on the roadside or in the fields We
found orders to throw us into line
that night, but two of our battallons
had been held up. the men were sadly
in need of rest, for they had practi-
cal1y no sleep for two nights, and it
was finally decided by the French to
put US in the next afternoon.
Little Protection From Fire.
$50 it was June 1 when we took up
.he support line with French troops,
nard-pressed by the boches, holding
the line out in front. The news was
hat the bocheS were coming. Our
arst P. C. (post command) was in the
utter edge of a strip of woods that
9 now two kilometerS in rear, with
as much protection from any kind of
ire as a spot in the speedway. But
from what the French told US the
boche guns had got up in small num-
berS and in their flights the boche
had fought with machine guns. a pro-
digious quantity of them. and gre
uades. Our position then linked up on
the left in front of Champillon with
The 5th, who, in turn, had the 23d on
their left The 5th had Wise's Bat
TALON in line while we had the 1st
and I'd, with Sibley in support. On
our right were the French. The next
day, the I'd. the French began to drop
back, tired out and outnumbered, and
that afternoon, by prearranged plan,
they were to pass through and our
line was to become the front line. In
the meantime, to close a gap between
Us and the 5th, we had put three of
our reserve companies into line on the
left. and that afternoon the 9Th held
front of seven kilometers with one
company as regimental reserve.
Had Box Seat at the Charge.
I'VE had dropped back from our
soo-close-to-n P. C. and INSTALL
I'D ourselves in a house in La Vote
Chatel. a little village between Cham
pillon and Lucy-le-Bocage.- From one
side we had observation of the north
md when the Germans attacked at
I'm. We had a box seat. We could see
.wo thin brown columns advancing in
perfect order until two-thirds of the
:olumns, we judged, were in view
The rifle and machine fire were in
was bursting Then the shrapnel
came on the target at each shot The
white patches would roll away and
we could see that some of the col
INNS were still there, slowed up. and
seemed perfect suicide for them
o try.
You couldn't begrudge a tribute to
heir pluck, at that.
Then, under that deadly fire and
he barrage of rifle and machine-gun
much for any man They burrowed
n or broke to the cover of woods and
you could follow them by the ripples
II the green wheat as they raced for
cover.
Tho next day Wise's outfit pulled
,pectacular stunt in broad daylight
They spotted a machine gun out in
ront, called for a barrage, swept out
1ehind it, killed or wounded every
nan in the crew and disabled the gun.
They got back o. K and then the
5oche launched a counter. attack that
vas smashed up.
Real Fireworks June 8.
'The real fireworks broke June s,
when a general advance on the bri-l
sade front to straighten out the lines
md recover territory was decided on.
n the meantime the 23d had been
'rought in from the left and put on
,ur rtght-Holcomb's flank. Our di-
'ision sector had been shortened to
Miss Mary Jones
Tells How Cuficura