Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-12-27

OF squads and platoons and singl,
Our captain had got 1t q fifth tim,
meanwhile, but he would not leave u.
as he was the ranking officer. He ha
a scalp wound, but the others were il
MS arms and shoulders. He could no
move his hands at all.
But he led our charge when we RAJ
Tor the woods. We carried some ma
chine guns with US as we went, an,
the gunners would run a piece, set un
nre while we opened up for them, ant
run on again. Some troops came GU
OF a trench still farther to the RICH
and helped us, and we drove the Ger
mans out of the woods and occupied i
ourselves.
From there, we had the Germans ir
Jul old trench almost directly from
the rear, and we simply cleaned them
out. l think all the vows were kept
that day, or else the men who made
them died first.
l was shot through the thigh some
time or other after the captain got
back. 1t felt just like a needle-prick
at first, and then for a while nv leg
was numb. A couple of hours after we
took our trench back, I started out for
the rear and hospital. The wound had
been hurting for some time. They car
ried the captain out on a stretcher
ABOUT the same time, but he died on
the way from loss Of blood. Fresh
troops came up to relieve us, but u
men refused to 60, and though official
~ they were not there in the trench,
they stayed until they took the cap
tain away. Then, back to billets-not
bullets. this time. l believe that we re-
ceived an army citation for that piece
of work, but I do not know, as I was
In the hospital for a short time after
ward. l do not remember much about
going to the hospital except that the
ambulance made an awful racket going
over the stone-paved streets of Etaples.
and that the bearer who picked up one
end of my stretcher, had eyes like dead
fish floating on water; also, that there
some civvies standing around the
as we were being carried in.
The first thing they do In the hos.
pital Is to take off your old dirty band
ages and slide your stretcher under a
big electric magnet. A doctor comes
In and places his hand over your
wound, and they let down the magnet
his hand and turn on the Juice.
Il the shell fragment or bullet In you
s more than seven centimeters deep.
you cannot feel the pain. The first
1oct0r reports to the chief how deep
wound Is, and where It Is stu
tied, and then a nurse comes I'M to
'ou, where you lie, with your clothes
till on, and asks you to take the
pressure"
Then they lift you on a four-wheeled
art, and roll you'to the operating the
ter. They take of your clothes there.
remember l liked to look at the
'urses and surgeons; they looked so
ood In their clean white clothes.
Then they stick hollow needles into
GU, which hurt a good deal, and you
Ike the pressure. After a while. they
egin cutting away the bruised and
laybe rotten flesh, removing the old
10th, pieces Of dirt, and so forth. and !
,raping away the splinters of bone.
You think for sur you are going to ,
Iced to death. The blood rushes .
trough you like lightning, and II you ;
ct a sight of yourself. you can feel :
ourself turning pale. Then they hurry /,
ou to your bed, and cover you over :
ith blankets and hot-water bottles. :.
hey raise your bed on chairs, 50 the ,
God will run up toward your head. .
ID after a while. your eyes open and :,
q doctor says, "Oui, oui, IL vivra," =
Gaming that you still had some time :,
spend before finally going west.
The treatment we got In the hospital !,
as great. We received cigarettes. to- :
eco. matches, magazines, and clean :
The men do not talk about :,
elr wounds much, and everybody =
les to be happy and show it. The .,
cd was fine. and there was lots of It. -
l do not think there we're any doc r.
In the world better than ours, and Ia
ey were always trying to make
lngs easy for us. They did not rip :,
3 dressings off your wounds like =,
ne of the butchers do in some Of our y,
'pensaries that l know of, but took =,
en- of carefully. Everything was ~
~ clean and sanitary, and some of ~
hospitals had sun parlors, which ~
well used, you can be sure. ~,
Some Of the men made toys and to
ICY. articles. such as button hooks 81,
d paper knives. They made the ha
ndles from empty shell cases, or TO
APPEL, or pieces Of Zeppelins, or or