New-York tribune., 1918-01-20
One Youngster of Is,
Unscathed in Three
Offensives, Wears
Croix de Guerre and
Fourragere of Legion
of Honor-Saw Alan
Seeger Killed
By George II. Seldes

~ OA o - ~SA~A~S
nARIS, Jan. 9."To-day they are
among the youngest in the For
cign Legion. Tomorrow they
will be the oldest fighters of tho great
war in the American army"
Then the commandant introduced
them TO nc, three bright, clean shaven
American boys in French khaki, spark
llng-eycd, checked, quiet spoken
boys, on whose uniforms were modest
rows of medals and the red cord, the
tourragerc of the Legion of Honor, the
highest distinction France in her his
tory has ever given a regiment.
Their names are Moyet, Blount and
Barry. They were just out of hos
pital, and boyishly excited because the
paper they were reading said that Sec
retary Baker had signed an order re.
patriating them.
"At last!" Blount exclaimed.
"Thank God!" said Barry revercntly
"But we must all go back to the
legion to say goodby to our brothers." i"
odlO NO%CL.
This they decided to do. The legion
Will miss them, but will! wish them
"bonnc chance" as it wished the Brit
lsh and Russians who left when first
war was declared, the Germans who
wanted to fight Germany but who we're
sent to help in Africa; the Italians and
the Rumanians, and last of all, the
portuguese. Only America in the heat
and turmoil of preparing her mighty
forces had forgotten >hcr twelve SOL
dicrs.
Inc Lafayette aviators are going
back, too. They are more than tech
nlcaliy part Of La Legion Etrapgere
Tor they drew from the regiment Raou1
Lufbery, of Connecticut, and William
lha", of Pittsburgh, and other famous
members. The adventures of the La
fayettes arc widely chroncled; Alan
Seeger wrote the poetry of the legion.
Here, from the mouths Of three Ameri
can boys, are bits Of the story Of what
life is like in the depleted ranks of The
legion:
The Youngest is
Jack Moyet
Inc Youngest of the young men is
Moyet. He is eighteen. A veteran of
more than two years and three Frenc},
ottcnsives, he passed unscathed through
the somme, Champagne and verdun.
where the days of fighting and nights
OF shelling, and mud TO sleep on and
food only when it was possible to mass
some through the barragc, finally broke
him down. He is in Paris to- dav. wear
ing the Croix dc Guerre and the four
ragcre of the Legion Of Honor. and
captains and generals salute him on the
boulevards.
Moyct's parents are dead now His
mother died in England a year ago.
Jack was living with her in little
village of Kent when the passion for ad-
venture first seized him. He ran awav
Salonlca and the Dardanelles cam
paigns We're occupying the posters
"hen ne came to London. and so he
tried to enlist. Refused on account
OF his youth and slight physique-this
survivor of barragcs and gas attacks
and raids and the daily dangers and
dally hardships of the trenches is
still stripping of gentle voice and
quiet manner-he went TO Soutbamn.
ton and attached himself to an Enr.
l'sh regiment, embarking for the Cal
iipoli adventure.
AT Marseilles, despite the CAPTAINS
friendship, he was ordered ashore. and
there, on November 2, 1915. ne ioncd
the Foreign Legion.
Where Alan Seeger
Died for France
On February he went to the O;s.
front, and in the first attack in which
he participated the legion took Below
cn-Santerre
That's where my friend Seeper wa
killed." he said.
"Alan Seeger?"
"Alan seeger. ncvef found hi,
grave: But looked for it. 1t was an
open fight, you know, at Belloy-en-San.
terre. When We started for tho Ger
mans Seeger and We're almost side
by side, and when the shell rot him
1t was right across the stomach: it's q
terrible thing to sec a friend get it
that way poor fellow-he fell lust IN
front +, on OF me. | stopped a moment sani
Strengthened him out on the ground
and tried to cheer him up.
Don't give up, l told him. See
you later, | saw that he was almost
done q for because the shell had ripped
nm, nm nadly. But he didn't give up. He
had the courage, Seeger had. saw
him. looked back and saw. him Lv-
ing there, torn up, he had got hold of
his rifle, and he lifted it so that the
bayonet was down. Then he stuck It
into the ground, a sign to the brancar-
diers-ambulance men-~that he was
alive and wounded