The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-05-08

what it was. He said it was his arm.
I took his hand in mine, and in the
blackness and the rain tried to locate
the arteries that were squirting. But
with the filth and the mud and the
sticky, warm blood that befouled my
hand and begrimed us both, and with
the hell of the bombs pounding about
us, I couldn't tell what I was doing.
So thought if I could only locate the
arteries that were bleeding, I might
stop it. l tried to wipe the CRIME
from my hands and then flashed my
searchlight on his wrist. No sooner
than I had done so, when hundred
voices shouted, Damn you-put out
that light Out went my light, OF
course, for the barest CLEAN of a
light from us would Immediately
have drawn down a score of aerial
bombs and countless machine gun
bullets upon our heads.
81 shall talk\ informally" Dr..
Stone said. "March 20, the second
division took it's position in a quiet
part of the Verdun sector. We re-
lieved the French, who, with this
Germans, seemed tired out with fight
ing. BY sort of unvoiced agree
ment, each side had come to the
stand where it said by it's silence to
the other, We won't trouble you for
a little while as long as you don't
bother us 1t was sheer WEAKNESS
and exhaustion on both sides. But
the Americans who went into the
trenches were restless to be on top
of Fritz and when our artillery open
ed up at them, there was a continu-
Gus artillery duel. AS exciting as
this was for a while, it was nothing
compared with the hell that was in
store for the second division. 1t was
merely mud and slush and trenches
and lice and French itch.
"Then we learned that the division
was to be thrown into the Chateau
Thierry salient. After brief retire.
ment, a rest and a delousing, we
went into that region. Arrived in the
range of the enemy guns, we heard
the booming of the. cannon and the
buzz of the Boche planes. We were
on iron rations-hard tack and bully
beef 1 shall never forget the sight
of the women and baby refugees that
lined the roads-the civilians fleeing
and disconsolately from
the fronts where the Germans we're
making their headway. AS we neared
the fighting front, the French soldiers
came fleeing and fltering back
through our ranks. Their morale was
gone and they admitted it. Strag-
Cling back, they looked at us mutely,
as much as to say, Americans, we
are glad to see you and we thank
you for coming-but you came too
late. It's all over now. The allied
cause is done for. We are whipped
and whipped for good The Ger
mans were gaining. Their spirits
we're high, their morale perfect. But
the expression on the faces of the
French was one of utter blankness.
They couldn't even smile.
"No words can give you a hint of
the hell and the horror into which
the Americans rushed to save the day
at Chateau Thierry. That was the
Kings Mountain of the war. 1t was
like rushing into the very jaws OF
hell. Individual shells blowing up
in our ranks sometimes killed as
many as 25 or 40 men at time.
They snapped down the big trees
like straws before the scythe, then
tore great bare spaces in our ranks
and festooned the storm-swept trees
with the shreds of our uniforms and
with the limbs and shredded flesh Of
our boys. This is literal. Words can
not depict the horror of it. The
trees were thus festooned at both
Chateau Thierry and during the Sois-
sons engagement.
Effort of Surgeons.
'sIn the mud and the slush and the
darkness of it all, about all the sur
geons could do was to try, to the
best of their limited ability, to re-
lieve the immediate suffering of the
boys that were being torn asunder.
Where a leg was almost torn from
the body, hanging for instance by
mere flap of skin, in the hell of the
booming fight the surgeons in the
front line fray would merely cut the
flap Of skin in two, throw the leg
aside and see as best they could to
the further care of the case-and do
their best to start the victim back