The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-15
Lieut. Kennady, LiaisOn Officer,
Denies Poor Support.
Topeka Hero, Gassed at Ar
gOnne, Is Home Today.
ARTILLERY THERE With GOODS
"Eyery Time I Asked for Sup.
port / Got It."
Division Fought in Open With.
out Protection of Forests.

"It was just fate. Mismanagement,
lack of equipment, the assertions that
the infantry did not get the proper
support from its artillery, and that the
35th division was not properly Off
cered had nothing to do with the al
legged extreme losses suffered by the
| 35th division in it's recent action in one
of the most tremendous battles the
world has ever known-the battle at
the forest of Argonne." This is the
statement made today by Lieut.. Ho-
mer +. Kennady of 1915 Harrison
street, who returned Tuesday from
overseas Lieutenant Kennady wears
a gold stripe on the left sleeve for
over six months overseas service and
also a gold wound stripe on the right
sleeve. On October he was gassed
while participating in the Argonne
drive.
Lieutenant Kennady was 1iaison Of
ficer to the infantry from the 129 field
artillery. His duties took him every
place the infantry went and his OBJ
| jectives were to find out what the in
fantry needed from the artillery in
any sort of attack.
Got Support Every Time.
when 1 telephoned in my data and
asked for support says Lieutenant
| Kennady. 81 got it every time. The
] artillery put it there every time. Right
when l asked for it and in the exact
| spot 1 wanted it, No better support
Could have been received. They got
results every time. If they had not
come thru with what we wanted l
would not be here talking to you now.
1 would be back there in the hills at
Argonne."
| On the night of September 25 the
35th division went into action at the
Argonne. At 2 o'clock in the morning
the artillery commenced firing. At
| o'clock in the morning the infantry
went over the top. AS liaison officer
| Lieutenant kennady went with them.
35th Was in Open.
| "Our orders" said the lieutenant.
! were to advance 100 yards every four
minutes. But here is where fate came
| in. The 35th division was in the open.
| On one side of our position was the
| Argonne wood and on the other was
one called Hess. The 2Sth division
held the wood on the left-the Ar
gonne. and the 91st division was on
! our right The 35th and 91st were
both in the open except that the 9lst
had part of the Hess wood to go thru.
1t is said that casualties in the 2Sth
were heavier than they were in the
35th. BY noon of the 26th of Septem-
Der the infantry had gotten out of the
| range of their own 75s, except the first
battalion of the 129th field artillery.
which was never more than 5000
yards behind the infantry and the
range of their guns was 5000 yards.
| Back of these were the 155 meter
| guns which were handled by the 13Oth
field artillery, of which Battery A of
! Topeka is a member. The range of
their guns is LOO yards. Back of
these were the 9.5s, the 11-inch guns
and five 14-inch naval guns with a
! range of % miles. All of these guns
were firing all the time. 1 know. Up
| in front where I was you could hear
| he ha1 / knew
| that our guns were all firing. But the
natural inclination of men in the open
| being shot at is to dig out for cover.
If there was cover on ahead, altho
you had to fight to get it. the boys
were going to get it and did hurry up
too much, which necessitated a lot of
/ hard work for the artillery in keeping
up, while the divisions on either side
of us were slowed down because they
had to go thru the woods
But that was our position.
Germans Knew Ground.
"Out in the open the Germans could
| see US, knew where we were and all
there was to know. They had been
| there over three years and knew the
ground perfectly. while it was per-
fectly strange territory to us. They
had all the best points of defense and
could shoot at US as they willed, es-
pecially while we were in the open
We did experience difficulty with
horses. The gun equipment was per
| feet, but we were not well supplied
with horses. Old French horses we
were compelled to pick up died off
| in punches. They could not stand the
gaff Battery of the 129th Field
Artillery lost every horse. / saw them
killed But at that the artillery boys
brought up the guns And whenever
I called over the phone for support
they put it right where 1 wanted it
do not know great deal about what
happened after October g 1 was call
ing our artillery for support when a
shell broke outside the dugout-
knew it was gas at once. But there
was a wind blowing and / figured
had 90 chances out of 100 of having
the wind blow it away before it came
down in the dugout-
Stuck to His Post.
"Any way. the boys out there ii
front needed the artillery. They need.
ed it badly. You can't talk over g
phone very well. you know. with &
gas mask on. So l called my chance,
wrong and was taken out of action
To finish the duty at hand, to protec
the other men, was the spirit Of ths
The men simply did not know
fear" says Lieut. Kennady. "Al
they knew was that they had come t
| whip the Germans. and they surs
whipped them and tore thru them a
! point they had held for over thre.
most impregnable points in the Ger
man line of defense"
On October l the setn and 10th in.
{ fantry brigades were relieved by tn
: infantry of the First division. but th'
50th artillery brigade STAYED in actor
| three days longer. The seth brigad'
/ includes the 12Sth. 129th and 1901
"