Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-02-02
: Leonard 0rmerod, Formerly
of The Star Staff, Gives
Graphic Description.
His Regiment. 312th F. A.,
Given No Rest From Sep
tember 3 to Christmas.
Gives High Credit to Infantry
for the Great Victory
Scored at St. MihieI.
Unit Aided in Taking Blanc
Mont and in Winning Meuse
Argonne Sector.
By LEONARD oRMERoD.

=
BY LEONARD oRMERoD.
Ueonard O.merod. former member
of.The Star staff. came TO washington
IS a member of Persbins's nifty foT
The third liberty loan drive. Since re-
turning he has been in the thick OF
many engagements. Herein ne re-
lates many OF his experiences under
fire. He row is the regimental ser
geant major. 18th Field Artillery
A. E. F)
ScHLoSS ARENFELS, Honninsen
am Rein, Germany, Christmas day
1aIs.-In company with others of the
fifty "Ifnrortals'' who returned 10
America. in the interest of the liberty
loan, / arrived at Havre. France. Au-
gust 8, but It was necessary 20 go
through replacement camp south OF
Bordeaux to get back to my regiment
which 1 finally rejoined at NeuiHey'
On the Moselle river near Toul In
the meantime l. spent ten nights and
8 many days crowded in small po1
car, bearing the unforgettable legend,
-Homr,es 40, Cheraux Zen lens) g
And we lived on corn willie" and to-
matoes. eaten out of the cans, with
one or two cups of. coffee day. FUR
nished by the Red Cross at stations
en- route But-the trip was rare one
scenically speaking, for 1t was mar
vest time And even to me. a Vet
can" the vigor with which the amer
cans had entered into the war was
a revelation, for all the way across
Fra and back again we we're never
ont Of sight of troops. warehouses,
American engines and cars, supply
2 nd ammunition. depots and slmllar
activities. p. :.
Found Many Officers Gone.
lt%xeuiIley 1 found that Col. Nc,
CiosKey. father of the regiment and
the ofFicer who had detailed me to &c
back ito the states, had been pro-
1noted to brigadier general. and there
was in command. st "a q e. 'oIn arr
oificers and men whom. had known
Syere zone some to other commands
and some had reported TO the Creai
Conanrander-in-Chie for. duty IN a
fairer' world than this. The regiment
vas having a brief rest period, out
of the zone of ire. but stun within
sound OF the big guns ana wl1nln
reach Of German bombing planes
Aaj- Watson. now ileutehans col1 1i,,
and as had been on his telephone de;
tail at Verdun ! went to him and
asked to be assigned to ms Haison
detail which request was sranted;
that I should be with the infantry
we would be supporting in action to
keep their: position known to our
command, so that barraEes, hfe on
enemy machine gun positions. ETC.
might be directed accurately. Its
}axaYdous nature may be guessed
from the fact that the lieutenant In
Command was killed, his successor
was killed and the third ofhcer
wounded within the period OF month
at any rate, you seldom had duh
moment when on the detail.
On September 8 we started for the
front, and since that time this resl-
lnent has never had a rest. Nor ms
any man in it ever received a seven
day leave to go-to a recreation center,
such as that at Aix-les-Bains. or so
much as a twenty-four-hour pass TO a
city Of any SIZE Day after day IN the
! latter part Of September and all DUR
ing October we eagerly awaited news
that we were TO be relieved, and for a
while we saved our money and hoard
ed q clean blouse or new pair OF shoes
against the day when we would re-
turn to civilization, but we little
guessed that not until we reached the
east bank of the Rhine would we have
opDoftunfty to relax. OF course, il
was better so-better to hammer away
our hardest as soon as our enemy be-
gan to stagger until we put him away
for keepe But do not get the idea II
was anything like a Saturday after
noon excursion of the botany class.
After leaving Aeuiiiey' where we
lsooyed very cautiously, mostly al
night. and always camping in thick
woods. We lived entirely in pun
tents which just have room for two
men lying down. The days were fine,
but usually we had more or less rain
ing camp in a strange woods at night
after long hike may be imagined
But Cur attempts at secrecy were not
in vain. as the great American victory
in the St. Mihiel sector show ed. The
captured Germans admitted their
knowledge of how and when We were
going to strike was very meager.
The Three longest Hours.
. The night before the attack, Sep.
TENDER II, was even rainier" thar
usual, and 1t was after midnight be-
fore we,reaEhed the little ruined VII
la4e of Iimey. where we were totaks
up our positions. We were all wet
and tired. butsafter sitting in damn
detail was lined up by Lieut.. Fulton
. and we marched down TO the infantry
positions q few hundred yards ahead
I We stood in. the trenches, with mud
and water half way to our knees, till
almost daylight. and. I count those
. three hours as the most trying Of my
. iife-nok because OF what lay ahead
= but Of the sheer misery Of being cold
and wet and tired and hungry, with
, not 30 much a. a post to lean against
for the sides of, the trenches were as
. muddy as the bottom. The artillery
barrage opened just az we were feav.
ing Limey, and from horizon to hori-
ION the big guns roared and flashed
foI. four hours before the attack. ant
we could hear the shells screaming
through. the dripping clouds above u!
, and feel the soggy earth trembling
beneath: Just before daylight th'
trenches filled up rapidly with infan
try (23d Regiment); and we soon crep
: through q passage cut in the parapet
seurried between barbed wire entan
= clements and stopped in the bottom
of the little valley that lay between
our positions and those of the Ger
mans.
Now the roar of the artillery wa
louder Than ever, while the sharpe
-rak-rak" of hundred
Of machine guns made high teno
for their bass. We could see the higl
explosive shells from our guns tear
. ing up the ground and barbed wiz