The daily morning oasis., 1919-12-03
Bureau Of War
CONTINUED from page u

and keen blue eyes. One must tax
his Imagination to picture him trudg-
ing through sea of mud carrying an
eighty-pound pack or going over the
top side by side with huskies forty
years his junior.
He did it, though. His record shows
it-and lot of other things, too, for
Private Bell was not only good and
faithful soldier, but he topped the
ordinary and ranks among our most
distinguished doughboys. Mustard
gas took his eyebrows away in the
/ Argonne and tried to steal his breath
at Verdun, but the venerable battler
survived and, indeed, recovered SO
well that few months later his name
appeared as the subject of very COM
plimentary articles in French, Eng
lish and Italian publications.
When the war broke out, Judge
Bell applied for enlistment but was
summarily rejected by a matter OF
fact recruiting offiler, who didn't
even dream that there was chance
for the applicant. The judge was nor
stumped, however, and one day caught
a train to Washington. Due to his
persistence, he was one day admitted
to the presence of a<high official In
the War Department. A short time
later he made bee line for the near
est recruiting office and exhibited a
paper dated October 81, 1917, signed
by the adjutant general, to the effect
! that he "authorizes the enlistment of
Alden Bell, formerly member of Co.
B, 3rd Va. Infantry, National Guard,
waving over-age and defective vision,
if otherwise qualified"
Private Bell landed in st. Nazaire
June 27, 1918, and after the usual
$40 Hommes, 8 Cheveaux," and vari-
GUS crest" areas, arrived IN the vi
cinity of Verdun with his outfit.
There he did the same as all dough-
boys, slept in mud, ate slum and
fought cooties, but he must have boy
cotted Vim Rouge for his commanding
officer said some very nice things
about him when he was discharged.
When he was gassed the second
time, the exposure that followed
brought on rheumatism and Judge
Bell found himself assigned to the
rear upon his discharge from the hos
pital. Even this, however, did not
dampen his enthusiasm and before the
cessation of hostilities ne was sent
around to different camps in France
under the auspices of welfare or
ganizations to lecture to the soldiers,
and there are many veterans who will
remember him as he stood before
them living illustration of the patri
otism he propounded.
Later his lecture "The Patriotism
of the American Soldier" was deliv-
cred in Paris, London and Rome and
was given high praise by such papers
as the London Times, the Paris Daily
Matin, the European edition of the
New York Herald and the Popolo
Romano, daily paper published in
Rome. The Italian story is worthy
of repetition:
"Private Alden Bell, soldier with
the American Expeditionary Forces,
in Europe, delivered speech last
night in Rome near the American
colony, which showed him to be both
a patriot and great orator. Poetic
in conception, vivid and true in imag-
cry, pure in diction, with a voice at
once strong, clear and sweetly modu-
lated, his oration was gem, and he
really captivated that upturned sea of
faces of the immense audience. And
the universal verdict was, that this
American Crusader, soldier and orator
deserved well of those in Europe, |
Great Britain, France and italy, who
are contending for the worlds liberty. |
Private Bell seemed to catch inspira-
ton from his nearness to the old |
Roman Forum, where Caesar and
Cicero once spoke, and which, CEN
turies ago, echoed with the master
voices of Roman renown."
Judge Bell is a graduate of the
University of Virginia. He was for