Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-09-30
Was Disguised With Drilling
But Changes Mind After Go
ing "Over The Top"
HAD HIS RIFLE
BLOWN TO PIECES
Germans Rely Entirely On Guns
And Have Plenty OF Them.
Is OF Interest Locally

naiI years Olu- ne lett scuOOi anu
enlisted in the Marine Corps when he
was just a little more than sixteen
years old. He was with the very
first detachment that wen across with
General Pershing.
The account is that of the fight at
/ Belleau woods. just north of Chateau
Thierry where the United States Ma
rine Corps blocked the advance of the
Germans to Paris and made possible
the subsequent victory of our forces
in the salient of which Chateau-Thier-
ry was the apex.
The account has double local in
terest from the close association of
this community with the Marine Corps
and its officers, and from the fact
that the young man who wrote the
letter has lately been appointed to the
Naval Academy Should he succeed
in entering he will carry with him
into the Naval Academy an expert
ence, like which probably no other
midshipman in the entire body has
had
"
drilling every day when we suddenly
got orders one night to pack up and
leave, which we did the next morning
in motor trucks. After an all-day
ride they dropped us off That night
we slept in an open field and the next
day started an all-day hike to the
! front, which we reached about five
that afternoon On the way we pass
ed lines of French people with all
their belongings in wagons and carts,
beating it from the German drive
which you have probably read so
much about and which we were sent
up to help stop.
I'VE slept about mile behind the
lines that night and the next morning
we went out to the front lines. Ev-
everything went we'll for the rest of
the day and that night but on the
following day they (the de.achment)
started in to lombard us. We had
no shelter whatever except little holes
and shallow trenches which we had
quickly dug. The trenches and trench
warfare is thing of the past where
we were. That afternoon they at
tackled us but we managed to keep
them off with rife and machine-gun
fire. The next few days were pretty
quiet except for a few shells now and
then. Suddenly one night they start
ed in a heavy bombardment of our
lines which was followed by a weak
attack. / hardly think it was an "a
tack at all but just one of their pa
trolls out looking for trouble. During
these bombardments we were many
times nearly buried by their shells.
/ got Whit of their poison gas which
they sent over in shells, but | didn't
get enough to hurt me any. Believe
me, it sure is rotten stuff.
I'VE began to think about getting
relieved, but one night the order
came round to make UP our combat
backs and prepare to go over the
top the next morning. We formed
our lines while it was still dark and
at dawn we started across the open
fields. This is where we began to
catch holy He'll from the machine
gun in the woods beyond. We get
across the open fields, though don't
know how we ever did it. and en-
tered the woods, which full of their
machine-guns. About the same time
we heard bugle sound the retreat.
The dutchmen seemed to pop up from
every foot of ground, and most of
them threw away their arms and took
to their legs. Here is where we had
them where we wanted them and we
captured them in mobs without even
firing a shot. They came to us with
their hands up yelling ''Kamerad."
Some were crying: some seemed glad
they were captured, and some seemed
scared stiff. l pointed my rifle at
one to make him step lively, and !
thought he would go crazy, he was so
scared.
THAT night we slept on our rifles
expecting an attack every minute, but
ii did not come until the morning
They managed to get foothold in
part of the woods and brough. up
dozens of machine-guns. (The Ger
mans rely almost entirely on these
guns and sure have enough Of them. }
These had to be gotten rid of as
they continually swept our lines with
their fire, so that afternoon we
again formed our lines. Every man
was told in what direction to go and
every man remembered what they did
to us coming across the open fields
the day before, and when the word
came to go nothing short of the whole
German army could have stopped us
! fellows. 1t certainly was great the
way the fellows ran up in the face
of dozens of machine-guns and took
them at the point of the bayonet. 1t
i was by one of these guns that got
my first dutchman- He was just ieav-
ing the gun when ] ran up against
him. l was too excited to shoot, and
doubt if l could hit him though he
was not more than twenty yards
away. so heaved a grenade which
did the business. l had plenty Of
shots at them but this is the first
that ] know I got. Il was lucky for
US that the woods were so thick that
they could not see Us to shoot at
until We Uof m tn, nj thar, and an