The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1919-06-05
A REAL FIGHTING MAN

A REAL FIGHTING MAN
A Tribute to Capt. w. L. McCutchen
BY a Comrade Who Was With -
Him in Battle
On the Way Home.
May l, 1919.
Dear Mr.. Osteen:-
Some of US have had the idea for
quite a while that when Daddy
Mac" started home, we wanted to tell
YOU a little about what we think OF
him, but we have put it off until l
find myself now on the way home
with him. He doesn't know that am
writing anything like this, or he sure
would be as sore as boil, for II
any one talks less about what they
did than he does, I'd like to find
him.
l met a Miss Ryttenburg on the
way down here, and she enlightened
me as to the name of your paper, as
well as your own name, SO l turst
that this communication will reach
you O. K. And we hope from the bot
tom of our hearts that when DADDY
Mac" comes home, you all turn out
the band and run parade up from
the station. We only wish the "Thir-
tieth" could be there to help make
the parade.
Pm a newspaper man myself, when
I'm out of the army, and / ought to
be able to write what I'd like to say.
r. was for that reason that they
stuck the job on to me OF saying
what we all would like to say about
Daddy Mac. But it couldn't be writ
ten as you would say it and couldn't
be said as you feel it, for when !
say you can't describe the place that
Daddy Mac holds in the hearts OF the
Thirtieth, mean it from the bottom
OF my heart. But l trust that you
good people of Sumter will appreci-
ate in some measure the love that
we have for one of your very finest
and greatest citizens, and that you
will know you are welcoming home
one big-hearted, whole-souled night
I'M man, when Daddy McCutchen
gets off the train.
Sincerely,
WuudIu w. hoSuS'
Back there in Sumter you all call
him "Bloody Bill McCutchen," so
thew tell US. Well, we know him by
MANY names too, but to all of us who
lave known him in the Thirtieth In
fantry he is and always will be
Daddy Mac" For Daddy" Nc
Cutchen's place IN the Thirtieth In
fantru cannot he measured with
words, any more than could be
measured the love that the Thirtieth
has for him. But since daddy Mac,
is on his way back to Sumter now,
the Thirtieth would like to tell Sum-
ter little of what it knows about
him.
He came to US soon after we came
to France-way back before the
fighting started for US. And he has
STAYED with US every minute until
now his chance has come to go home.
He wears a wound stripe but ne
never missed moment with the out
fit for all of that, and OF three OIL
/ GERS who were with the regiment
I through every bit Of fighting, Daddy
was one, and when they finally pull
ed the outfit out OF the scrap at the
tail end of the fighting in the Ar
eonne, it was Daddy McCutchen who
was commanding the regiment.
There isn't man who fought with
the regiment at the Marne, and from
the Marne, to the Vesle, and up
through the St.Mihiel "hike" and
then through the long wearing grind
of the Argonne, of whom Daddy
wasn't a familiar figure, because
everywhere the fighting was, there
he was. He isn't as young as some
of the rest of US, when you count up
his birthdays, but there wasn't a
man who had any more "pep" and
"sticking qualities" than our Daddy
Mac.
If you were to hunt around among
the men who followed Daddy Mac"
from shell hole to shell hole and
from trench to trench, you probably
wouldn't find a man who could re-
member any time when he had Or
dered a man to certain place. BE-
cause he didn't handle his company
that way. With his outfit, you'd see
him rush ahead in the thick of the
machine gun fire, and from the posi-
ton ahead that he would reach, back
would come the call, "Come on |
Company" and l Company would
come on, to a man. Back at the
Marne, after the terrific lombard
ment of the fight of the 18th OF July,
it was Daddy Mac, who, finding a
messenger trying to reach division
headquarters, took the message,
went out into the hail of shell fire