Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1919-05-29


my address and Russell's name, etc,
so that he will be able to locate the
grave even il the marking should be
destroyed. That whole country up
there north and east of Reims is a
revelation. In every one of the viii
lagos l have mentioned hardly al
house is left standing. In Betheniville
there is not one house but what is
absolutely in ruins. There are
probably fifty people in each village
trying to rebuild their homes and bust
ness. The prisoner of wal companies
that are scattered through the coun-
try are engaged in picking up wire
entanglements, rebuilding roads, and
rendering all sorts of assistance to
the few civilian inhabitants, rebuild
ing houses, and even blowing the
fields. If l had been seeking sOuve-
Mrs, l could have brought back a
wagon load, Boche helmets, rifles,
gas masks, ammunition and every
thing else. Right here l want to
voice my tribute to the treatment l
received on all sides from the French
up there. l have never had such a
revelation of hospitality in my life.
Every IN | came in contact with,
from the French lieutenant at Bazan-
court, to the sous-lieutenaut and SER
geants at Betheniville, not only made
me welcome and did everything in
their power to assist me, but made
my cause theirs. Sergeant M. Barber,
who went with me to St. Etienne, not
only helped me in every way, but
thought of things that l had not
thought of and discovered ways of
doing things that | had not thought of.
l went back with him to the company
that night, had supper with the
l~ieutenante and sergeants and spent q
very pleasant evening with them.
They were all quite intelligent and
filled with a fund of humor and CANA
raderie unequslled by any Ihave seen
anywhere. There wasnothing in their
power they would not do for me
while was with them. The next morn
ing after being wakened by PHILIPPE,
their Boche servant, bringing me
coffee and toast, they gave me a little
French two-Wheeled ambulance, their
only vehicle, to drive me to Bazan-
court, where / caught a train through
Reims to Paris at 1920. Never, as
long as l live, will I forget the treat
ment l received at the hands of those
French people up there. Reims did
not impress me much more than all
the rest OF the towns in that section.
1t Is q little larger is all. The cathed-
raj is quite imposing, but did not i'm
press me greatly. The town is filled
with tourists, mostly American Of
ficers, soldiers and nurses. l passed
through Chateau-T hierry, which did
not seem to be quite as much ruined
as most of the other towns"
Walter A. Hatton, 1877 Infantry,
Medical Detachment, 32d Division, is
now at his home in Arcadia, his Divi-
sion having returned to the States.
Walter enlisted iG the Ambulance
Corps, in the fall of 1917. He was
sent to Fort Riley for training, an d
went over the next May. After land
ing in France he vas placed in the
Medical Detachment of the 127th In
fsntry, and served in field hospital
work the entire time. His division,
the 32d, was composed largely OF
Michigan and Wisconsin National
Guard men. 1t was the third guard
division to get into active service.
The first was the Goth, second the
Rainbow and third the 32d. They en-
tered the lines the 18th of May lin
AIsaee, and fought on five fronts.
They never never lost an inch of
ground and always gained their OBJ
jeotives on time. They had ten days
rest in six months. IL Yves the first
American Division to set foot on Ger
man soil. They were in the Army of
Occupation, being part of the ThirG
Army Corps. Their divisional COM
mander was Major General Hahn
They left Engres, Germany, on Apri
Is. Walter says further: "We staid
at Brest five days. While there
hunted up Louis Favez and Walter
Pruitt. l found Favez down on Main
Street walking his post, seeing that
the enlisted men and officers were
} kept.out OF the cafes. While I wa
talking to him he had to stop and rur
a captain out of g saloon. He had tt
tell him three times before he went
t But of course the M. 2. has the au'
thority of the Government back oil
, him, even with officers. Louis sem
/ word to Walter that | was there, and
) the next night we three met down OF
t the street. He is now stationed on a
, flag ship in the harbor of Brest. He
told me about being sick so long thi'
4 winter and in the hospital, but yol
. would not not know it now. For ]
! never saw him look as well as does
t That was the first and only time
ever saw any of the boys from Iron
| ton over in Europe. The field hospita
was usually fifteen or twenty mile
t back of the line. We were not il
| danger of shells from the trenches
but it was the favorite amusement 0
the boche planes to drop bombs o.
the hospitals. | remember one after
: noon they dropped three bombs OIL
: us, and they fell no further from u
: than across the street. Not far from
us was an evacuation hospital. The,
were full to overlooking and had hat
F. a barn full of patients. The BochI
Q planes found out they had wounded
men there, and dropped bombs Of
them and killed seven of the wound
i ed. We were first in the Marine sec
t tor, then near Scissors, then at Chal
b Ions, and finally nea Verdun ON lib
: erty while the Goth Division wa
y stationed there. The wall around tn
: city is about 16 feet thick. We coul,
8 see where the shells and bombs ha
d struck the top Of the wall and broke
Q off pieces, but they never battered j