The sun., 1919-03-02

as I looked into their sad resigned
faces whether they saw any hope or
comfort in this long train of soldiers
and guns. For the most part every
thing ari everybody seemed to be hur-
rying away from the battle line except
the Americans.
At Montreuil, about four miles back
from the front. some of the troops left
the camions and went into billets. but
many OF them got no sleep before day
light on June /. the very day we went
into the line. And remember that the
night before they had slept on the
ground with the expectation Of being
called at any moment.
Our marines rode on those camions
from nineteen to thirty hours. accord
ing to their luck in reaching their des-
tination. Some got lost and had to
hike with their sixty pound packs.
When they arrived they were gray
with dust and hollow eyed with IA
tigue They looked more like miners
emerging from an all night shift than
like fresh troops ready to plunge into
battle.
Bivouacked within sound of Guns.
About midnight the first and luckiest
battalion halted about seven kilo-
meters back Of where they were to go
in. They expected orders to advance
at once. but they got a little rest
There behind the lines, within sound
Of the booming guns. the men bivou-
acked, each with his poncho and one
blanket. and waited for the day.
About noon on June l a battalion or
the Fifth came trudging YEARLY in.
They had been landed at the wrong
place and had been obliged to march
all the forenoon. Two battalions or
the Sixth were delayed. Major Hol-
combs battalion coming up in the
afternoon Just In time to be deployed
into line from the trucks.
think the French hesitated to trust
us too far In this crisis. We were
without tanks. gas shells or flame pro-
jectors. We were untried in open
warfare. But Gen. Hartford begged to
be allowed to tackle the job.
Let us fight in our own way said
he, land We'll stop them"
The situation was acute; there
seemed to be no alternative. Gen.
Hartford was given free rein. and in
that moment We passed out from our
French tutelage and acted as an Amer
lean army fighting side by side with
| our hard pressed allies. The battle
| of Belleau Wood was fought by Amer
lean troops under American officers
supported by American guns, in a
| typically American manner. And the
battle was won.
| Orders came from Gen. Hartford to
move two battalions into line at once
II sent them up, most OF them
in camions on the Metz to Paris
road to within half mile OF the
line of battle. From there they went
in on foot I went up with the cam.
ions and got there with the first c.
them. The Germans had some field
guns-77s-tained on the road. but
luckily they did not shell our trucks.
No Complaint of Hardships.
1t is easy enough to figure out how
little genuine rest those men had ha6
for more than two days and nights
and how much fatiguing labor. AnC
for two days more they had no foot
but their reserve rations OF hardtacl
and bacon. 1t came pretty close Il
hardship, but heard no one com
plain.
Private John c. Geiger OF Jasper
Fla. told about 1t later in the hospital
THE Dutchmen were about ffteer
hundred yards away when we came or
the scene" said he. 1--WE got orders
to dig in We used the lids OF oui
mess gear and bayonets for tools.
Say. you'd be surprised to know
Just how much digging you can d.
under those circumstances. Bullets
and shrapnel came from everywhere
You'd work until 1t seemed vol
couldn't bulge another inch when {
shell would hit right close and theI
you'd start digging with as mucl
energy as II you had just begun"
The enemy artillery and machine
gun fire annoyed Geiger, but the thin,
that made him cross was the irregu
iarily OF the meals. especially whel
an order came 70 move tu.t as the,
were sitting down TO the first warn
, meal in several days. when 70,
missed chow, then you missed some