Omaha daily bee., 1919-09-28
YANKEE DEAD TO'
REST FOREVER IN /
FLANDERS FIELDS.
Many American Martyrs Are
Buried So Hastily it Is
impossible to Re.
move Them.
By NEWTON c. PARKE.
International News Service Correspondent,
Formerly with the American Army In
France.

international News Service Correspondent,
Formerly with the American Army IN
France.
Paris, Sept. N.-Many Of the
bodies Of our soldiers dead in France
can never be returned to rest in
their native soil. 1t is even doubtful
if relatives and friends of hundreds
of those who made the supreme sac
rifice over here would want their re-
mains disturbed If they knew the
circumstances under which they
were buried.
1t is delicate subject that the
army authorities have only limited
at in their desire to save bereaved
mothers and fathers unnecessary
pain. To put it as gently as possible,
many bodies were buried in such
haste during the hottest fighting
that they are in no condition to be
moved.
U. s. Losses Small.
Fortunately our army suffered
less in this respect than did the
forces of any other nation, not only
because we. were engaged in heavy
fighting for only comparatively
brief period, but because we were
constantly advancing while suffer
ing heavy losses.
In Flanders, where the British
fought in Dogs and the battles ragged
tlerce!y with first one side and then
the other advancing, thousands of
dead lay between the opposing lines,
where it was impossible to reach
them and give them proper burial
for weeks, even months. In the
champagne and on the Verdun
front, where hundreds of thousands
of frances poilus gave their lives.
the same situation prevailed. But
IN the heavy fighting at Chateau
!hierry and to lesser extent in the
Argonne the Americans were push
ing steadily ahead and a very large
percentage OF our dead were quickly
reached and given proper burial.
Had No Collins.
There were times, however. when
bodies had to be quickly DISPOSED
OF in order that the health of the
army might not suffer. Frequently
collins were not at hand: thew
could not be brought up under enc
my tire without endangering the
lives of many more Americans, nor
could the corpses be taken to the
rear for the same reason. Little
burial parties gathered quickly in
the darkness, often with German
shells screaming overhead, a chap
lain read a brief service and the
dead were laid away as expeditions
ly as possible, the spots being mark
ed by the wooden crosses and iden-
trying records forwarded to the
grave registration service.
Six Lie BY Wall.
In the garden OF one villa in the
city of Chateau-Thierry the bodies
of six Americans lie in the shade of
a rose-covered wall. They were
killed in sharp fighting in the out
skirts Of the city. Their remains
were recovered when the Germans.
evacuated the town and were laid
away in their blankets few hours
later. One came from Atlanta, one
from Milwaukee and the identifying
crosses on the others showed they
were farmer boys from counties in
Ohio and Illinois. In many in
stances of this kind the tide of battle
swept swiftly by, the bodies were
taken from the earth and placed in
eoffins and later removed to the
American military cemeteries now
dotting the fields of France. How
many could not be moved it is hard
to estimate.