Mexico weekly ledger., 1919-05-01
]. P. JOHANSSON IS
BACK FROM FRANCE

J. P. Johansson, a native of Den
mark and for six years a citizen of tn
United States, has done his bit 70
America and for the cause of justic
to be too, although Like so man,
American soldiers returning from tn
Western front, he is backward abou
telling his experiences.
Johansson was employed in the Al
fred Larsen Studio for a number o.
years and is an expert photographer
He was working in this capacity OF
October 4, 1917 when the first draft
caught him. He spent some time il
training at Camp Funston and on June
4, 1918 sailed for France. "Ovei
| There" he was assigned to the First
Aid, a part of the Medical Corps. II
: was his duty to administer first aid to
the wounded and to see that they were
relieved of their suffering as far as
possible. 1t was while administering
to a fallen comrade that a high ex-
I p~losive struck him and cut him out of
the rest of the fighting. By extra per-
suasion he has given some graphic
accounts of the hardships and the
bravery of the soldiers, touching on
his own experiences.
After serving through the st. Mi
hiel drive, where he experienced two
narrow escapes from death, Johans-
| sons division was taken to the Argon-
ne front. 1t was here that he was
wounded on the first day Of the last
drive, November /,
At st. Mihiel he tells Of his escapes:
ga comrade and 1 were shaving in
our temporary quarters" said Johans-
son. 81 had ont half of my face shaw
ed when a piece of shell struck against
the wall just above my head, rebound
ing and striking me right between the
shoulders, finally landing in a wash
pan behind me. OF course the shell
had lost its force when it hit me and
it didn't pierce my flesh. My COM
! rade turned to me and asked in a sort
of whisper: Did that shell hit your
l answered that it had and that we had
better go below where we could at
least finish our shaving.
"Again I remember of a shell ex-
p~losion which almost got me. I was
lying in a shell hole just large enough
to hold my body and my feet were
sticking out. Well the shell explod-
| ed, tearing up the earth around me,
covering up my legs with the dirt and
MASKING my mess kit against my legs.
Speaking of the captured Germans
| Johansson declared that all he
saw were lads in their teens and old
men 60 years and wen older. 1t was
pitiful to see these brought in, he
| said.
"At the hospital" he said, 81 not
iced enc slender German youth who
was badly wounded. He gave his age
as 10 but he didn't look a day over Is
years and he hadn't even started a
beard. His face was as soft as a
baby's". Here the speaker bowed his
head for a moment as his thoughts
went back to that scene in one of the
army hospitals. But his face bright
ened, as he remarked: "But you
should have seen how glad they were
to be captured. They seemed as tick
eled as a little child would be over a
new toy"
1t was a high explosive that got
Johansson at Argonne. "The fighting
had been going on for some time" he
said, 1--WE had ben ordered out and
were just getting started, toward max
ing the poor fellows as comfortable as
possible. But they didn't give US a
chance to do much, the shells were
dropping too thick. A few feet ahead
we're a number of shell holes which
made a sort of small trench. / was
dressing a lad who had a big hole in
his back and had just about finished
my work when our officer told US we
had better get under cover. Well,
what was a fellow to do? l couldn't
leave this fellow out there with my
work only partly done. I knew it was
dangerous and l didn't like those
shells any better than the rest, so I
called to one of my comrades who had
found shelter, to come on and help
me finish the job. Evidently he didn't
like the idea much for he hesitated
and / concluded to go ahead alone. 1
was kneeling on my right knee at the
soldiersnSide when a piece of high
explosives hit me. 1t struck me in the
left thigh and lodged in the lower
abdomen. l became numb in by lower
limbs and mus confess that I was
afraid I had lost my legs. I was at
first afraid to look at them but when
I did glance down 1 was thankful it
was nor worse.
For four months and a half to the
day / was in the Hospital.
They operated on me and I have the
piece of she'll" Here Johansson ex-
hibited his watch charm which proved
to be the shell that had nearly cost
him his life.
Johansson is back in Mexico. He
was hard at work Thursday afternoon
when a Ledger representative saw
him; back at his former position at
...- CG-l 41a,~I L. LII |