Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-28
With the Bovs Overseus
From Stars and Stripes, A. E. F., Feb. Il

cEOm StdES anu 0tIlpeS, a. GSs r., TED. 20.
It seems that a transport-load of returning
Yanks. who landed in New York not so long
ago, had it all fixed up to cheer the Statue of
Liberty the moment that lovely lady appeared
to them through the mist With characteristic
American thoroughness, they had appointed a
out on deck ready to blow Bedloe's Island clear
out of the water with the righteousness of their
greeting.
But" as it is reported in back home paper,
when the leader opened his mouth there was
something in the way that stopped the sound.
There was something in his eyes that misted
his view There was no noise behind him. He
looked around, and the trouble was epidemic.
Soundless tears, such as thinking men she'd were
mastering the cheers"
1t will be that way, more or less, with most
OF the things that most of our number hope to
do when they get home. That trip to the coast,
that three months loaf, that job at incredible
salary and incredibly short hours, even that girl
all plans for them will undergo some sort of
a change. The pleasant pastime of building air
castles in France or Germany is not without its
uses as an exercise of the imagination. but the
transportation of those air castles, like moving
Cologne Cathedral to Milwaukee, is something
else again.
OF course, some of the dreams, some of the
plans will come true. 1t would be fine if all the
good ones should come true But somewhere be-
tween Brest and Boston, Bordeaux and Balti-
more, ST. Nazaire and ST. Paul, the majority of
them are pretty sure to suffer sea change"
And we need not be disappointed if they do, for
of opportunity, in which the best and the big
gest dreams have been known to come true for
those who added the labor of head and hand to
the aspiration of the heart.
The lucky Americans were those whose
training in civilian life fitted them for service
when the war call came. They did not have to
face the dsmaying and sometimes impossible
task of learning all over again. 1t was their
rich privilege to have something besides muscle
that the country wanted. Of such were the
The A. E. F. was still young when the ap
peal went back across the Atlantic for showfolk
to entertain us-an appeal that still stands, for
the response to it never met the demand.
The difficulties which beset the fairly willing
players were. many. Red tape by the mile,
and months-all these things clogged the ma
chinery of good will. That they were not in
superable, however, is evidenced by the fact
that more than 700 players are here now. Some
OF them came at great personal sacrifice, most
OF them are thoroughly familiar now with the
discomforts of our existence, many of them are
solid for life in the hearts of young America.
1t is in honor of these 700 that it is worth
recording with what singular unanimity the big
stars stayed away. With few exceptions the
ones who could best have afforded to come,
those great favorites of the theater whose
names are printed largest and whose pockets
are stuffed fullest, failed to answer the call.
Name over the 20 or 80 best known men and
women of the American stage and see how
many of them came. One or two, perhaps.
No more. The luxury-loving, overpaid, over
praised crowd, the spoiled children of America
they are strangers to the A. E. F.
Probably all will be forgiven. Or, rather,
forgotten. Probably there will be no great
reckoning. And yet-and yet some of us can't
help hoping that some fine night at the first
performance of an all-star production on Broad
way, the greatest applause, the reception that
will fairly stop the show, will be accorded, not
to one of the advertised stars but to some little
soubrette, because there will be some soldiers
out front who will remember that once upon
time she was one of them in France.
Already American feet turn toward Chateau
Thierry. Already the battered city on the
Marine is become shrine for pilgrims. 1t is
all smiles these days amid the new prosperity
these visitors bring. Guides lead the way
through the memory-crowded streets, and in
the wind pws, through which less than a year
ago machine guns spat their fire, souvenirs are
on sale.
1t seems probable that Chateau herry will
always be the great American shrine in Europe
the Gettysburg of the A. E. F. 1t is Curl
should be So and the reason lies somewhat
deeper than the mere fact that Chateau-T hierry
is nearest to Paris of all our memory towns.
But Chateau-Therry is more than battle
field; it is symbol; it is symbol of that dra-
matte moment in the history of mankind when
recognizing Europe's great emergency, scrap
ping all its careful schedules of training and
equipment and relying on the grit and ardor
of its youth-America rushed into the fight.
The old Marine town means that to those who
love America. That is why for Americans, all
paths in France lead to hateau-Thierry