Evening journal., 1919-10-03
SENTENCED TO DIE,
BOY OF IS is HERO
Court-Martial Didn't Know
What jeff Cook Had
in Him
CORPORAL HAD
1T IN FOR HIM
BY JESSE +. GELDERs.

y +. y ikiduolhd lily lures lonuell
NlLBURTON, Okla, Oct 3.-Thc
court-mariisl didn't know
That i6-year-old farmer lad could
be used up utterly by the strain Of a
too-long vigil;
That a lad standing asleep in a
,rcnch. his torpor-dfmmed eyes sin
toward The lines Of the foe, misht be
ihe stun Of which heroes are made;
That such boy might come back
for more after being glssed and
ripped-by machine gun bullets, until a
riece Of shrafnel stopped him in the
Al sonnc.
The court-mafiial only knew that for
slccpins on sentry duty, The punish
ncnt is death
And so for seven bleak months JEFF
Cook waited Tor the firing squad IN
III he WAS psrdoned by President Wi
son. ....
Cook. now iS Is at Wlburion
] ran away from home and told The
Fort Logan. Colo, recruiting ofllcer
thai was u.s." he said Il did nearly
al my training In France They put
me in Company g. i6ih Infantry The
;hc front IN October
My corporal think his name was
NNslentic seemed 10 have something I
ssainst me and hoy named Forrest
sebastian Forrest was 49, and NJ
course VIC couldn't do things Just like
the other men who we're older, and
hardened We were Just kids
corporal Waientic was always tell
irg us Nou fellows need your moth
e-s along with YOU
One nishi at about n. The Germans
MADE a trench raid Cook continued
~ lasted something like 30 minutes
and The corporal put me and Sebastian
on guard iill in the morning
That day they kept us az ii-twe
hours on. and four or When night ,
came Corporal Walcntic had MS on
for A. hours again n was drizzling
rain, and the mud IN some places was 1
ankle deep
All the next day again Il was two 4
hours on and four OF Through wet {
and chill thoEsiuck 10 their Vigll EX
hauscd az the end of The lWo-hour 4
watches, ihcy would drop Imply, =
heavily, into slumbcr that couldn't re d
fresh s
Then. when ihc four hours had ~
lascd ,hcy Woul =. tcutcl on II
again. bodies poisonc6 by fatigue,
weak, unsteady a 6 o'clock that b
nehl-ihc third night. sebastian and
Took We're pul al il again, for y
twelve-hour stretch
Il was worn out, says Cook "Cor- y
poral Waleniic didn't relieve us Didn't
have any other mens Well, he pJi n
somc others on. after we had s's;i D
"I guess it must have been abou, u d
O'Clock That he came around ara q
touched me ! was slandng up, lc-n- n
ing AGAINST he wall % NE tgeah d
Where 70 was little dry hAl hccn b
looking out toward the enemy. 81
Where IS your sun llc ocfnral y
asked me ! looked around for a. and uI
old him ! didn't know lie hll taG q III
d and turned t In to The lrGleE1nt m
rhcn he sent me 10 a dugout u,
sebastian had fallen asleep, too. du
There were nve others but they were
lever convicted IC
when we went before The lleuten-
mt the next DAY. there wcfe tears in \
III, ewes as he fold us what a serious
ffense we had commltlcd-ihat there ial
,as Just one sentence, death. II we ca
we're guilty Sebastian chokcd up and bu
ricd We told The lieutenant how u on
appencd-how The strength had sim al,
~ left our bodies M,
when the courlmartial came there da
vas only one thing 20 do plead moi do
IIlly.' and claim we hadn't been ha
steep. l didn't tell my advocate that rei
had d0zed and he said lot of ha
lings about how ] might have been 4
,oking ont over ihc trench ai the gi,
me they claimed / slept But J guess N
b. Lieutenant had lo ten them what
c had told him. and they sentenced a
,basiian and me 90 he shot
Then. Cook relates. they were sent !
, The guardhOuse. c0Opcd mp in the n,.
laky loft of an old barn. There We're I,a.
oles in the roof and The snow came liz,
Oh the beds The hobnailed shoes
)t wet ana froze stiff SO they could or,
1t be put on feo
When the regular soldiers went for !
ard on duty, The doomed pair accom-
lnicd them. M,
Bul when the company rested ~,
vs. the hoy. his eyes glinling, "Sebas- va
an and ! had 40 work on the streets .b'
The rain and mud no matter how ho,
ed We Mere fro
\ new day dswncd, uncertain, but ~,
: and fun Of hope. The Two youths ''''
termined 60 show the world Mat mn
as in the American soldiers so saved ~
om American bullets. f,
AZ Caniteny. Cook guped chlorine
:. but pressed on with his conf , ~
des. st scissors q machine gun bull ',o'
tore through his risnt leg An ~
her ripped across his left foot. Sc ~
stan gave ilfst aid. .,l
\ little while later a German she'll ,l"
uck near sebastian and he was !, !, o.
He'd he died a.here ll'
Iust think what the courtmariial io'
In know