Omaha daily bee., 1919-07-20

Ohio. or other similar citiesl
The Rainbow Division veterans
of the whole American expedition
larry force in point Of length Of con-
Ttinuous service in the fighting line,
was accustomed enough to moving.
1t had done more moving from one
part of the line to another than
any other American division, with
a fight at both ends of the move
more often than not. Moving was
nothing-mere detail in the days
work. And so far as moving through
Germany was concerned, why. that
would be a vacation.
| Their Bright Hopes Dashed.
| No she'll holes to get the traffic
across, no ripped-up roads, no night
marching, no fighting. Great! Ger
tainly would like to be going home,
the Forty-second Division would,
but this was the next best thing
seeing Germany, soldering de luxe.
| Why, this was pretty fair reward
for year of the most terrible work
human men can be called upon to
do. To be sufe, some birds were
being sent back home, but they were
replacement divisions mostly. Never
had seen a fight, some of them
hadn't. Let 'em go! This Germany
trip was the thing!
That was the spirit back in
Brandeville, France, when the For
ty-second was waiting for its new
equipment to come up-its new
trucks, more trucks than it had
ever had before, and its new clothes
and its new passenger automobiles.
This was also the spirit through
Belgium and Luxemburg, where the
days dawned clear and warm, and
where the work of Occupation" OF
the enemy's country was about as
arduous as strolling through the
old cherry orchard.
Yet going toward Birresborn
heard an officer say, when they
pick an army of occupation after
the next war, count me out!'
| ! also heard a supply officer say
I'D rather supply three regimep,s
in the front line of an attack than
try to keep stuff moving up behind
one regiment that moves like this
along roads like these"
4 And | heard, variously expressed
\ the sentiment that fighting war is
preferable to occupying the con.
quered enemy's country when the
country is the inhuman sort oi
country that this German country
is. Forever, in the minds of the
Rainbow Division men q can,
speak for men in other parts of the
army of occupation), Germany will
stand as the symbol of the utmos,
in rotten roads, just as France sym,
.bolizes the best.
Took 200 Men to Move Trucks.
A detail Of 200 men moved from
truck to truck that day along the
roads between Kyllburg and St
Thomas, pulling them out of the
mire and the bitches. 1t took the
combined strength of every one oi
these 200 men to move these trucks
for they were loaded with tons ,oi
supplies. Sometimes the relea sine
OF one truck opened the way for a
whole train of others that were no,
heavily loaded. Sometimes the
crew of 200 truck-pullers had to tow
each truck several hundred yards
to the beginning of a stretch oi
firm road, then go back for the
others, one at a time. Elsewhere
on the roads, no gang of men beine
available, two or three trucks tina,
had managed to keep out of-trouble
would be pushing and pulling a
loaded truck that had got into
trouble. One would be pushing ane
two pulling; the engines would roar
the wheels would spin, aM til,
motor-monsters would leap and tug
painting and growing like grea
trapped animals and finally, clamp
ing their teeth on something sole
at last, slowly, painfully drag theil
ioins up, up and out.
All right-let's go!" and the me,
who fight the trucks" would be OF
down the road, slipping and slidin,
drunkenly, fighting forward ever,
inch OF the way, maybe for 200 yard
without halt.
Division Chosen as an Honor.
, In the selection of divisions I,
form the army of occupation, tn
element of reward of extraordinar
services in the war did figure, an
the men knew it. That is why the
were so cheerful as they toiied u
the red muck hills, shaking truck
ftout of bitches, urging tired horse
!. to another long pull, walking wit
feet that weighed many times NOR
than ordinary, for the shoes of tn
infantry gathered this German mu
and grew in size and tonnage lik
The SNOWFALL rolling down the hill
And that, in fact, was why the
| tgroused about it when they settle
down for an evening or two in
, new German village little neare
the River Rhine; for no soldier
vacation is complete unless he ca
sit around of an evening with som
OF his buddies and swap growls an
kicks. -
They had wide-eyed, open-mouthe
I. galleries now in the kitchens &
Germany. Birresborn, a town abor
) as big as Speicher, was a twdnigf
stand and every man who coul
, possibly do it hunted himself up
Z billet in some German house. b
Ia o'clock that afternoon the casus
officers mess was established in til
village Gasthaus, phonograp11 wa
going and a group of officers ha
discovered that there was exactl
one-half keg of beer left in the vi
lage and had Clipped in and bough
it-"just so we'd have some o
hand" one of them said. By
o'clock they were sitting around
table beginning the evenings grous,
with two amazed German wome
watching them from behind the ba