The Washington herald., 1919-01-14

and Bernard Roth, former District
fireman, SIS Fifth street northeast.
were among a group of fifty-two
wounded soldiers who arrived in
Washington last night.
Three hospital trains carrying
wounded soldiers arrived last night
between o'clock and midnight Two
cars of one of the trains. carrying
seventy-five returned soldiers. were en-
route to Camp Lee, Va.
Private Hughes. OF Company /, 372d
Infantry, is one of the District boys
who has been fighting overseas since
April. 1918. Private Roth, of Company
D, 127th Infantry, has just finished
seventeen months of foreign service.
Greeted by Old "PaIs.
Hello, old fellow" Hello. Dave"
Hello, john" were some Of the
rapid-fire exclamations the trainnen
and switch tenders hurled at Roth,
as the troop train slowed down at
Union Station.
Roth, who was a fireman at the
local train yards before his enlist
ment, held an impromptu reception
as his friends clustered around him.
The men who have been here guard
ing the trains during wartime eagerly
asked about other boys who had
entered the service.
Many of them, as Private Roth re-
called each name by name, have
gone West"
Many Friends Killed.
we lost Knowland at Chateau
Thierry." said Privt. Roth. who re-
called friend after friend. many OF
whom lie in lonely graves in
| Flanders.
In addition to his war expert
ences, Roth was shipwrecked New
! Years Day, when the Northern
Pacific went aground five miles off
New York They were rescued
January 3, by a submarine chaser,
| the men being sent to Foxhtll
Hospital, New York.
| Roth enlisted August. 1917. re-
| ceiving his training at Fort Myer.
He fought his way through Alsace-
Lorraine, Chateau Thierry, Sois-
| sons. and Argonne, He was
wounded at Alsace-Lorraine and
| gassed at Argonne. He was en-
route to Camp Lee, Va, for gas
| treatment and rehabilitation.
| Hughes has been lighting over
| seas since April, 1918. we got IN
| the fight in the Champagne district
| in September" Hughes said last
! night. The battle. a man-to-man
combat. was fought every inch OF
| the way over an open country
| rough with the humps and hollows
! of shell explosions.
Our company was supported by
| the 33srd Infantry of the French
| machine
| furnishing the barrage that pro-
| tected us as we made our ad-
vances."
; Wounded in Hand.
| Fighting all day, Hughes was
wounded in the right hand in the
late afternoon of the first day of bat
| tie, After several weeks at various
! French hospitals, he was sent for
conyalescent period to the watering
1 springs at Vichy. While there his hos
pital ward was located in the re-
nowned Hotel Royal, known through
out Europe as an exclusive resort
Say for me-" Hughes said. thai
for a time when we went over the
top it seemed as II there would never
be a coming back But it is mighty
good to be here now. and we Wash
ington boys are glad we're to be SC
near home"
Hughes was trained at Camp Meade
hsfore being sent overseas. His sis
ter, Mrs. Maris Jackson, lived at the
FloI ida avenue address.
! Wears Famous Insignia.
His uniform bright with service rib.
hons, the insignia of the famous 'Iror
Division" the eighth Division
a beribboned Croix de Guerre with a
star brigade citation, and service chew
rons, Lieut.. Robert f. Perkins, oi
Petersburg, Va, a member of tbs
regular army for fourteen years, was
one of the wounded and gassed pa
tents assigned to the hospital at
Camp Lee.
| Lieut.. Perkins fore the war" wa:
a member of the Eleventh Cavalry
now stationed at Fort Myer. As sooI
as he loses his "sea legs" Lieut.. Per.
kins said he wanted to rejoin his cav
airy company with which he fought
through the Cuban army of pacif1ca.
ton and the Mexican punitive expe'
dition.
Army-trained in the old school
Lieut.. Perkins company, as soon as il
reached France, was assigned to sup.
port the Marines, who then were be
! ing relieved from the Chateau-ThierrJ
drive.
'"The Chateau-Thierry country be
fore the first Hun fight was a wonder
full wheat field, but it was soon g
devastated land of shell holes ant
salvage from the first offensive
Lieut.. Perkins said ''Wreckage Of
the fierce battles that had been fought
there were in evidence everywhere, il
disabled machine guns strewn about
partially destroyed Hun tanks and
scraps of what were once airplanes. p
| Lost Many Omcers.
At the end Of a two days rest his
company was again plunged into the
thick of the fray at Sergy, France
For three days they held out against
the strong Boche resistance. In this
conflict the 10th Infantry lost a major
commanding a sector and many off
| GERS and men.
Eventually. however. the American
lines re-established themselves anG