The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-06-06
THE Y. M. C. A. AT THE FRONT

This, properly speaking, is not an
editorial. 1t is just letter from one
of the boys overseas. He wrote it to
his mother; and he had no idea that
it was ever to be printed. We take the
chance of printing it without his per-
mission, or his knowledge. We do so
because we have had good many let
tiers criticising the Y, and because
this seems to US to be about as inter
esting and about as stirring a letter
as we have come across. Portions of
the letter which do not concern the
Y. M. C. A. we omit. The writer of
the letter is Sergt. Maj. Arthur G.
Halsey, I'd Bn. Hdq. 9th Inf, A. E.
F. He writes from Luxembourg. Here
it is.
"Now, Mother, Pm going to tell you
something, and I'm ready at any
time to back up my statements to any
one at all. You have entirely the
wrong idea about the Y. M. c. A. The
Y has done some wonderful things ov-
err here. They faced gigantic task,
and did their work well. I'm not
speaking about my outfit alone, be-
cause I've seen it time and again in
others.
an my battalion we have Y man
named Dave Duncan. st. Mihiel, Ar
come, Trenches in the Vosges, every
where that we saw action saw Dave
there too. At St. Mihiel he drove an
auto full of chocolates and cigarettes
through three lines of captured Ger
man trenches. The battle was still
going on Overhead battle was GO
ing on between a Hun and two Ameri-
can planes, with the M. G. bullets COM
ing down all over the place. The Hun
batteries were trying to range us, and
the H. e. and shrapnel shells were
landing every minute. They were
coming so thick that every one was
ordered under what cover he could
find. The American guns were bat
tering the last line of resistance about
two kilometers ahead, and we were
waiting for the order to go and get
EN-. Up came Dave, with his auto, and
in spite of the fact that he was told
to get under cover by the commanding
officer, he got up on the seat, and hol-
Tered for the boys to come and get
their stuff. No one had any money
hadn't been paid for two months. The
boys lined up and they had to keer
six feet apart to lessen the danger OF
casualties from bursting shells. Dawes
machine had come to a stop, for the
simple reason that there were Sc many
dead Germans that he couldn't go any
further. His front wheels were on {
dead Huns chest, and there were deaC
men and horses by the thousand OF
oil riJn. Wn no cpnnlyns
chocolate at a time when we were al
wild for a smoke and hungry as hell
Is this neglect of duty?
81 met Dave during the Argonne
Mouse offensive. 1t was the night m!
regiment made their famous crossing
of the river in the face Of the ma
chine guns. 1t was raining and cold
Everywhere the ground was covered
with dead The Germans had gon
stark crazy, and were dropping shell
as fast as they could throw them ov
er, landing them everywhere, in
mad attempt to stop the already vic
torious American drive. 1t was tn
most hideous night | have ever live
through. A night that will keep m
awake for years, | think, and there o
the German side of the river, wa
Dave; he was giving away hot choco
late and cigarettes to anyone VIII
: came by. How he got the stuff there
| don't know, unless he carried it o
his back; but the fact remains tina
he was there; giving US hot drinks an
smokes and yelling to the boys to g
ahead and give them hell Dav
swan the river where men were &c
ing West by the hundred. He wa
dirty, ragged, hadn't shaved for
week, was lousy, wet, and cold, bu
he was THERE, and he is all man.
Another little incident about the
Since the armistice was signed Dav
got his papers and permission to re
turn home. The war was over and hi
part was finished, and this was wha
he did: He sent his papers back, wit
the notice that he would go HON
when the 9Th Division did, and nc
before. Dave is lawyer, has plent
of money, and wife and home wait
ing for him, and yet he is here in thi
damned little country, when he Nigh
just as well be at home, and all be
cause he cares more for our comfor
than his own. If that is neglect @
duty, then never did mine, and if h
is not man, then I never want to b
one. And the organization that
backing him up, the American Y. N
C. A., is just like Dave.
Mother, the first hand clasp l re
ceived when / struck England wa
that of Y man, and the first goo
word was from the same source.
: was pretty lonely and discourage
boy about then, too. The first goo
American voice l heard in France, q
La-Havre, was the Y man there. It
been the same all the way through
the Y men are working their heads o.
for us over here, and all the credit i
the world is coming to them. Wha
, the Y is doing in the States, don
know, and l don't care, but over her
they are doing their bit and doing
well, and have been. I'm for the J
M. C. A. strong and no one in tn
- States can tell me different, becaus
= Pm here. I've seen it thousan
times and Pm seeing it today. Will
I'm writing this letter I'm smoking
Y cigar, this morning ate Y cand
onl ,ol,ac orJ Itya crof W ,r,,,,, IL, m