The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-08-20
Miracle of Battle Tuned
Hafd-boiIed Boys Into Heroes

little, and they were, proud.
But their achieVement on the field
was mot the great thing that came into
view Ia those days. II was the spirit
that famed up In their hearts--Rot
merely Spirit Of courage, of daring
Of heroism against odds, but a spirit
J Of altruism, OF love for the other fel.
low. Somewhere in that holocaust
those hard-boiled boys had gotten II,
SaRd the manifestatjoefVf IL that night
I'm tho little court ard before the dress.
Ing station made the spot one never to
be forgotten by those who witnessed II.
A hurry call was sent 10 the distant
Y. NJ. G. A. .tH,-s4a - .a3
Can't You do something for these
boys that are being brought in herefn
the officer in charge demanded.
'sWhat can we aof', .,..s g,.lg.
"Something to eat and smokes Cof-
fee. A bite and smoke do a wound
ed man more good than anything else.
Do you know, some Of those boys have
b~eD ont there in that for two DAYS
with nothing to eat but hardtaekfD
heu frlangie On the Job y ,., ..es.t.
so the Y sent its men and it's trucks;
II made coffee, it brought such fruit As
it could; IL carried chocolate bars.
~" Here you are, spOFt,'' said one Of
them, coming into the courtyard.
i" Here g cup of chocolate. - 49,. .. 81
The boy raised himself painfully on
his elbow and reached for the cup
then he motioned il away. -.
Rt'I hainlt hurt rnuch--and there q a
lot of guys here that's messed bad.
You hain't got enough to 60 around.
Git busy
.st'I've got smokes and hot chocolate
for every man. Go ahead"
Honestf l won't be Robin none of
them bifdsf"
Honest" .T..
The boy drank-and was transform.
ed. He lay back with a cigarette be.
tween his lips, with his eyes closed,
and the expression ON his dirty face
was such q reward as few men ever
earn. A ..,
- "That's hvin' "'he said softly:
One boy was brought in with a
broken leg. It bad been an accident
and not a wound won in battle. He had
gotten IN the way Of motor truck.
Jest qfx me up out here what you
cam" he said
you get to the hospital, son."
Nix. Hospitals for those fellows
that 5 hurt. 1 just got busted pin.
You fix me here and leave me here
when you git a chance" "
A Transformation ....
Somewhere, some time, they had all
got this thing II had come to them
out Of TIE flame and crash Of battle;
II had been carried to them on clouds
of soaring, noxious gas; it had awak-
ened in them through suffering and
through the sight Of suffering. Th9y
we're the same yet they were not the
same. They were not gentle, vet one
faneied he could detect a gentleneks
in their voices. But out OF the battle
and the, suffering, something bother
than they had ever, known came 70
them. There was utter ignoring of
self, and,it was a thing wonderful to
witness.
We We got to have a new word in
the language" said n Captain-su
!" Game won 7 do. These boys are some
thing more than game. I've never seen
anything like it,, l don t know what
it is Even he, Injured to suffering and
to scenes of blpodshep, wiped his eyes.
a. They 're-they 're-why, damn it oil,
they re something! Nobody was ever
like theml"I
the floor. His chest was rising aud
falling as he struggled for breath.
s on his way" said the doctor
to man who was acting as order
ly, nurse, assistant, anything.
The man went over and touched
the boys forehead.
How abOut it, old mani" he said
Bind Of Lonesome
'kind of lonesome. Maybe you
could sit-here till"
The Y man sat down and hand
struggled toward him. He took il and
held it in his own, and he whispered
to the boy a moment. Maybe il was
prayer. Whatever the words, it was
prayer. The wounded man lay still.
his hand in the hand Of the friend who
had come to him In his last dark mo
ment-his last glorious moment He
was giving his utmost for his country
The Y man sat still until the hand
grew limp and Hfeless in his own, and
then he moved away to other errands
for it was a night demanding much
OF men.
~" rnur"pe of the battlefield seems
to be a common commodity; but the
rour~ge to Dear pam without finch
ing; to realize the approach of death
without crying out; to reach a moment
when you know you must face life
manned, without arm, leg, eye-and
not TO Garss with yhlaeL rage or cry out
with despair-tlIat rs another kind of
courage But it was there, Not one
man had it. but It seemed as if all
those wounded had tit was not the
gameness of the bulldog. 1t was some
thing that had to do with the soul 1t
was greatness, II WAS fnepess, it was
a thing that compelled the watcher to
uncover his head and stand barred in
its presence.
They were Americans, Perhaps it
was their birthright. More likely 1t
was a new things newly born Of the
day and the business of the day. What
ever it was, whenever and however
it came, it was present. This had been
written with repression, with a striV.
ing for understatemont, with a wish
to tell the truth. The thing was there