The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-11-14

back when hell broke loose, and such
a hell hole as we did find ourselves
in. We knew at once We were caught
in a barrage and that we were in a
mighty poor place. We were com.
PEELED to dive for some little holes
that resembled graves more than any
thing else. In fact, that was the first
thought that came to my mind, a
grave, and | wondered if it was ours.
Instinctively We dropped in these holes
to escape that flying %shrapnel. You
understand that if a shell ever hits
you, you should worry. AS long as
you can hear the whistling and swish
ing voice in the air and hear the ex-
p~losion, you are fairly safe. II you
are fiat on your stomach or in some
kind of a little hole, you lever hear
the whistle nor the explosion of the
shell that hits you. That is one point
in their favor. They do their work
well and very completely. They leave
no room for pain and suffering.
We crouched in these little holes,
holding our breath and almost deaf
ened by the terrible noise. At first !
wasn't SO nervous as | was mad. We
had loitered and fooled around on u
way back enough to have taken us
all the way. But it was too late to
fuss around over that and | felt that
we ought to get out of there. 1t was
OQttinO a1fn0ofhor fnn hot IN c,it ,,A
1t was then that n of those don't
give a darn" feelings came over me,
and l said Let's take a chance and
try to get back" We might as we'll
out we came and with our water we
started. And l want to say that we
lost no time. Over rocks, brushwood,
broken trees, We stumbled, falling
again and again until we came to this
open place which was under constant
observation. There we stopped to get
our breath and gather our somewhat
scattered courage. | believe God cove
flew like a flock of birds over that
terrible place to the edge of the op-
pOsite woods. There was hardly a
foot Of level ground along there, so
full of holes as it was and they were
sending them over right after us. All
this time we hung onto our water, be-
cause it meant everything to us. We
uased for an instant before starting
into tho routnn Nv no xya ~rnf
ty good, although we were so ex-
hausted and our nerves strung so high
that it was a wonder we didn't fall
dead.
When we finally reached the ravine
we founnd it being shelled in a most
merciless way. If anything, it was
worse than the woods, because | be-
lieve they had a direct range on the
place.
1t was here that l came to the con-
clusion that l never could get in a
a test and came through all very we'll.
If my nerve ever was to give out it
would have then. I hadn't any nor
than entered the ravine when a shell
knocked me down. | thought for a
minute that my time had come. If
e l was to get shell shock, it would
have been then. AS soon as l could
get my somewhat benumbed wits
about me l got up and started down
the ravine again and it was then that
l came the nearest to giving us. l
can stand a lot of Smelling, but death
and suffering unnerve me more than
anything else.
In my haste l almost ran over a poor
fellow who had been hit and was al
most dead. His condition was terri
BILE and the worst part was that l
could tell by his eyes that he was con-
scious Of what had happened and
knew he was dying. 1t was that pic
ture which nearly foored me. There
he lay, dying, and no one to care for
him, to hear his last few words. He
was beyond all help, but how pitiful
was the look in his big brown eyes.
There lay the ravine before me, the
poor desperate fellows clinging to its
sides, crouching low, and hoping that
they would be spared this time, and
all this time the terrible explosions,
crashes and cries of those who couldn't
stand it any longer and utterly gave
up.
Can you imagine the three Of us
coming to such a place when already
we were so exhausted and %unnerved
from our run through the woods?
Why, that picture will be printed for
ever in my memory. The shock of
seeing those poor fellows had almost
blinded me and l hadn't noticed that
they had their gas masks on. Some
one yelled "gas" and out came my
mask and l tried to put it on. But /
was so out of breath that it wouldn't
stay on. The force of my breath blew
it off and by that time ! didn't care
much whot hopvopad co;I UTo boI1