The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1919-06-25

9AG aG0 G04A~
ing in.
There was a daylight raid put over By
the SoSth infantry. Company K. Cap
tain Barrett took nfty-four boys over
all volunteers. They cut the wire during
the night, and Jerry" knew that the
wire was cut SO he got everything ready
and was prepared for them. At 2 o'clock
In the afternoon. over came the fifty
Tour boys and the captain. They didn't
nave a ghost OF a show. only seventeen
boys came back. and they were all
wounded The captain was killed. 1t
seemed 10 put the scare into the Ger
mans though. because nobody had ever
attempted anything like that before. 1t
was done more to show the spunk Of the
American boys to go over in broad day
light and make a raid like that.
After we got out of the Lorraine front
we were told We were going into Italy.
They put US on a train. and there were
forty men to a small box car. just stand
ing room, that was all. You hung your
pack up along the wall. or set ii down
and sat on 1t. We tore some of the
boards out of the side. and made racks
so the fellows could lie upon them
just like a Pullman. We got away with
II pretty well. until some French con
ductor saw 1t and had TO put in a re-
Fport that we were tearing up the box
cars.
After maneuvering around for three
or four days we went through Chateau
Thierry. The battle was over then. but
we got a look at it. and we could see
where the American ~doughboys had
started to put up American buildings.
We passed Quentin Roosevelt's grave
going up there. They had the propeller
OF a plane on 1t, and the Germans had
made a cross and fixed it up. but since
then the American boys have hxed it UP
much better.
On we went to -- Woods. This
is a place where we were storing our
ammunition. Jerry was bombing these
woods every night. and of course we
didn't like that at all. We put up with
II three or four nights. and the officer
decided to move US. The third night
Jerry came right over where we were.
He didn't drop a bomb. but just kept
lowering around US. and that was Whist
used 10 get our Nanny so after four
days we thought we would move UP
closer and We began TO see some real
battle country. where hundreds of
horses and trees and everything were
all torn UP. and we began TO think we
NO0Aa SIC SOlhc l6nlln6 utECs SURF vi
course. all The time they were shooting
large shells at US and we were going too
fast for our artillery. But right there
on the v the Germans had put
barbed wire down in the river where 1t
wasn't so deep. so the boys would get
caught when they tried TO walk across
and they had snipers right across the
river who got the boys when they
couldn't get out.
Then we began to see the German
dugout. There were come that were so
feet deep. were plastered and had cleo
trio light and pianos down there and
everything that anybody could ant OF
course. ali of this had been stolen from
the French people. In order to get the
pianos down into the dugout they had
mechanics take them apart and reas-
semble them when they got to the bot
tom.
They had wonderful observation along
the Vs.; had about eight observ-
ers up all the time. Jerry never came
over on our side very much. didn't seem
to have the nerve. When our boys went
up they seemed to be caught all the
time and didn't get very far. but they
were game and had the nerve. so that
kind OF got the Germans goat" We
advanced twenty-five kiiometers on the
v. but we lost a lot of men there.
One night my battalion put over a bar
rage. Everybody seemed to be IN on
this. the machine gunners, all the artil-
lery. the French 70. the big s" rife and
the IA" gun. and they all seemed TO let
loose at once. We were moved along
one place on the v and didn't
know there were any guns around. All
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noise, and it was like a keystone
comedy: everybody fell down. but IL
happened 10 be our own gun. From the
v we went up into the Argonne.
on the 26th OF September the barrage
started which last seventy-two hours.
We kept on advancing through there.
and that was the place We noticed the
spiked wires the Germans had in the
ground.
The Germans were sending over to-
ward the last. a combination of gas and
mustard. We didn't know it was gas,
but we knew there was something in
the air. It seems as though the gas
doesn't get you until twenty-four hours
afterward. The mustard gas Is suppos-
ed to burn. Well. they got twenty-five
OF US when they got me. One boy got a
direct hit of a shell when he happened
TO be upon a side hill. We brought him
back. but he was dying at the time.
This lad was a corporal machine gun
ner. and just the day before he and |
were looking over some small pictures
from home. When he was showing his
pictures to me. he said, Gee, Put.
wouldn't 1t be good If this war was all
over with and we could go home and
see our folks again." II hurt me when
I saw Smithy get it. but Smithy had TO
get it and that was all-he was the
boy TO go.
We'll, after I had been gassed they
shipped me TO a field hospital. and from
there TO an evacuation hospital. and
then TO a base hospital. ! stayed in the
a month before / could see.
and I wasn't gassed bad in comparison
to a lot of the other boys. Some OF the
boys will never see again. The mus
tard gas has an awful effect on the
body. il burns and keeps burning. ana
there doesn't seem 70 be anything 70 stop
il. and that is the sad thing about II.
The man IS suffering continually while
the acid Is burning into him. The last
part Of the light I wasn't let in, but !
got letters from my buddies and they
xept me posted so that I felt like ! was
in IL. I would like TO nave been
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