The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-10-12
FOUGHT LIKE HIS
Name WAS Mike
This Bird Answers tc NORTH
more" but Look What
He Did.
DISAPPOINTED IN THIS war
Hero Of One OF Hottest Actlons OF
War Complains Because He
Was Wounded Early In
the Fight
By &. A.

BY e. A. BACHELOR.
Paris.-When they named that boy
Northmore, fate must have laughed
loudly. It's so unlike him. The name
does not suggest the deeds this par
ticular Northmore has done recently
in France. He should have been
called Mike.
Northmore Hamill Is his full name
and he lives In Detroit, Mich, when
he is home. A little over two years
ago he was In the senior class at high
school, a smallish, bashful youngster
with an engaging smile. Now he Is
Private Hamill. United States marine
corps, convalescent from two wounds,
one Of the many heroes OF one of the
hottest actions of the war, q finished
"hard- boiled" soldier.
Private Hamill has been a little
disappointed In this war. 1t has some
good points, of course, but he feels
that he was cheated because, as he
expresses 1t, he didn't see much of
the fight"
IWlCe WOuIueu anu Sttli ut NAuh =
see much of a certain fight!
Here is Private Hamill's story as he
told 1t bashfully, even alphabetically
after / had given him a cigarette of
a popular brand, a cigarette that has
been hard to get In France:
Northmore Had Hard Luck.
"Yes, it was a good fight, that lit
tie affair at Belleau Woods. / missed
the best part of 1t because l had the
rotten luck to be wounded early, but
the rest Of the boys had a busy time.
"We advanced In broad daylight
through a wheat field with the Hun
machine gun bullets reaping the grain
around us as nicely as though 1t had
been done with a scythe. Then we
got into the woods where they had
plenty of guns and plenty of cover.
My platoon was a little in advance of
the rest of the company, and we had
almost reached the clearing on the
far side of the woods when we ran
into a nest of machine guns.
"We had no hand grenades with us
so all there was to do vas to try to
pick off the gunners with u rifles.
"AIl Of a sudden, something ex-
ploded right among four of us that
were lying near a rock. i felt some
thing like a needle stab in each leg
and knew that / had been hit. Billy,
n of my pals, got a piece Of the
hand grenade, for that is what had
gone off, through the steel helmet. IT
went into his skull and he groaned a
couple Of times and was gone. Two
ether men had been wounded, too.
making four casualties for one msasly
little hand grenade. Did you ever
hear of such luck?
"We had to use Billys body as a
Kind Of breast-work, for things were
getting pretty hot about then and the
roor fellow was gone and there was
no use of the rest Of us being ex-
posed.
IT could still work my rifle, for the
pieces Of metal In my legs weren't
very big and they didn't hurt very
much. Finally all my ammunition was
gone and I had to roll Billy owe and
use his cartridges. / hated to do it
II gave me the creeps-but what else
was there to do when I was all out of
shells?
Navy Man Cool.
"Finally we got orders to fall back
to the advanced dressing station,
which was behind a big rock. and the
bullets pinging around and chipping
of pieces Of stone all the time. There
was q hospital man from the navy
there and he certainly was q cool one
He bandaged us up as calmly as II
there was not such a thing as a wal
going on.
'sThen another fellow and I started
for the next dressing station where
there was a surgeon and we could
get a little better care. The other
'blesse" was hit In the face and was
SO bandaged up that he couldn't see
I couldn't step on my left leg, so
guided him and he held me up anc
we got along very well.
FINALLY we got back into the little
village where the surgeon was work
ing In a cellar. I was about all In
by this time when a Y. NJ. G. A. mar
came up and gave me a cigarette.
could almost have kissed him.
There were some terribly wounded
men In that cellar and the surgeon
was working without any anaesthetic
huf there wasn't n WINNER. Tht
gamest men / ever expect to see
They just lay and watched him Gu
them up and bit their lips and bore 1t
That's the kind of thing tina
makes you proud of being American.
I'm a few days ! expect to be goini
back to duty. There Is still a piec'
Of iron In my knee but the doctol
says to let 1t stay there for the pres
ent and e how I get along. II m.
leg won't stand up. I'll have 1t takei
out. for Of course I want to be bacl