St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1919-04-26
THE SILVER CHEVRON,
(By Undine Charlton)

We're one a reader of the Army
aid Navy Journal, Of most any
Pamphlet edited for inf >rmation of
army circles, one would lind the sill
yer chevron topic which has been
the subject of many discussions The
War Department, and M. Baker es-
ters pleading for counterinanl Of the
order issued to the effect that such
: ohevron should be worn.
The silver cheVron made is appear
aDct shortly after the s.rmistiee was
signed and the beginning Of demoh-
iliZation~ The occasion for the Gre
alton of such an insignia arose from
the necessity of making distinction
between men who had served at
home and abroad, therefore the gold
chevron already designating over
seas duty was contrasted by the sill
yer cheyron denoting home service.
Neither the War Department nor
Mr.. Baker seem at all disturbed or
aroused to have the slightest degree
of mercy for those who consider
themselves the most unfortunate OF
unfortunates. Shall We argue as
these men do, and also demand the
removal Of such ban? Or shall
we look into the question and finally
stand by our War Department which
always tries to do the right thing.
The authors of some of the letters
complain that they are disgraced,
and even insulted, by being ordered
to wear what they term the white
feather" which they claim is too
plainly synonymous with their hav-
ing to stay behind. These self-made
unfortunates are afraid people will
think they were not chosen to do
duty overseas because they showed
the white feather and, therefore,
were undesirables. These complaints
come from all quarters. Some of
them which, at first reading, seem
worth needing come from regular
army men of long standing with
whom the blow has dealt heavily.
Even distant rumblings in form Of
courteous grumbles are from devel-
opment battalions and quartermas-
ter corps; in fact, there is hardly any
branch of the service that hasn't
representative pleading for the cause.
At this point it should he explain
ed that the attitude of the aggrieved
is not selfish one; nor is it disre-
spectful and unpatriotic. The un-
willing wearers of the silver chevron
do not wish to rob the more FORUM
ate comrades of the greatly deserved
honor of displaying the gold chew
ron, but they do feel that their fail
ure to obtain the gold should not be
rubbed in as they say, by their
being given the silver, which, accord
ing to their idea, makes them as
"just one of the fellows who didn't
get over there" Now, these men
do not want pity from sympathetic
public; nor do they need it. What
they need is the proper attitude of a
public that simply understands;
however, they mustn't forget Being
part of that public they, too, are to
understand and look at the matter
with fuller vision.
The most important phase of the
war, otherwise than its purpose, can
be expressed only by the word Ser
vice.; not by such phrases as great
service" personal service" ser
vice in France" or service in the
United States" Uncle Sam simply
points at every individual and says:
Have you been of service in this
great war?' If we have we are re-
warded by being called patriotic citi-
zens. That includes the strongest
and the weakest in every field of ac-
tiyity We are very proud to be able
to wear the invisible "chevron of
patriotism"
For various reasons a great many
did not get to serve in just the de-
sired capacity; but what matters that