St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1918-07-13

Never mind" the nOncOmmissiOned
officer said roughly. The conversation
had become disagreeable to him. wait
here. until | come back. Where r
the oficers?"
Again no q could answer. What
are their names? I shall find them.
Perhaps they are in Vitry."
We told him the names of our off,
GERS. He gave US Identification papers
SO that we might be able to prove TO
others inqulring why we were waiting
where we were.
Il hope his horse falls and he breaks
his neck" said one of our men.
We entered one of the houses which
had been robbed, as were all the others,
threw ourselves down upon the mat
tresses to sleep. sleep. sleep. How
long we slept no one knew. We only
knew that II vas night and that some
OF our company had aroused Us. These
were newcomers who had been hunting
for US for a long time.
Come along. The captain is out
side and he is very angry. He has
gathered IT Of his men together and Is
cursing like the very devil because he
could not locate you"
Sleepy, and entirely Indifferent to the
future. we left the building. We knew
that we would be sent into action
again but nc longer cared. had never
before seen among a body of soldiers
such an atmosphere of absolute indif.
ference.
We came upon the captain. He saw
us approach minus our headgear, our
uniforms torn into shreds and without
guns and knapsaeks.
why are you running around here?'
he roared. That was u reception.
Nobody answered. Nobody cared.
Nothing could be worse than what we
had been through, but although every
n among us felt keenly the injustice
of the captains attitude we all re-
manned silent.
where Is your equipment?-Lost-
Lost. This has been a nice business.
The state equips you, you rebel. II all
were like you"
He raved on for a while after this
fashion, this brave fellow, who, without
any action on his own part permitted
the rebels to retreat while he defend
ed his fatherland in Vitry, 4.26 kilo.
meters behind the battle line.
We selected guns from those lying
around US in heaps and soon were
ready to fight again.
We stood around half asleep, lean
ing on our guns. and waited to be led
0nce more to the slaughter. A shot
fell I'm our midst. It struck a color
sergeant and smashed his right hand.
He cried out from the pain. His hand
was quickly bandaged. He was the
first.
An eyewitness told IS how this had
happened. He had rested his hand on
the gun barrel In the same manner
as did all the others except that his
hand partly covered the muzzle. The
orders provide that the gun be locked
if loaded. Turning to the color SER
geant, who was writhing with pain,
the captain roared at him: Il shall
report you for punishment for your
gross carelessness and Tor mutilating
yourself in the field"
The color sergeant, a noncommis-
stoned officer, realized that his military
career was at an end. We all felt for
him. During the months preceding this
incident he had always associated him
self with the privates.
We never learned whether he was
brought before a co~urt-martial. Pun
ishment for self-mutilation was a daily
event and many severe sentences were
pronounced and then made known to
all the others to serve as a lettering
example. The color sergeant's place
was conferred upon another, after
which the captain disappeared once
more in the direction of Vitry.
We marched away and halted at a
point northwest of the village. Here
we met other pioneers who had been
gathered together from various bat
talions and our unit was once more
brought up to So men The officers
told us that we would not enter the
battle today. Our only duty for the
time being was to keep the bridges
over the Marne In good condition for
the German troops fighting on the
other side. soytf1at they could be used
IN case the battle went against us.
we then marched to our destination.
which was at fhe point where the
Sauix flows into the Marine.
We reached our destination about
six O'Clock In the morning. The dead
lay around in heaps everywhere. We
were camping on a wooded height
and could overlook the country for
many kiiometers in all directions. We
saw shrapnel bursting by the thou
sands. Little could be seen of the
men who were fighting despite the fact
that many divisions were locked in a
death struggle.
Presently we saw the fighting line.
The Germans were about two kilome-
tiers behind the Marine. which flowed
by directly in front of us. German
cavalry in great numbers was en-.
camped along the banks of the river.
Two temporary bridges In a very dilap
dated condition constructed of what.
ever materials were at hand were To-
Gated real Us. Preparations had been
made to blow them up with thousands
of pounds of dynamite. The electric
fuses had been strung TO the point
uhoro ypn wprn fnpafed and II was I'm
to us to manipulate the switches. Con
nected with the battle line by tele-
phone. We were In d position to destroy