The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1919-02-20
A Soldier 5 Plea
Corporal John A. Mahoney Writes
Plea from Somewhere In Germany.

When the call was sounded for men
to defend "Old Glory'' Company M.
was one of the first units to be or
gained in Wisconsin. It's soldiers
have been in the thick of the fighting
in France for the last six months of
the war and today they are still held
as members of the Army of Occupa-
ton.
Kenosha members of the Company
are not selfish they do not want to
do it all, according to John Mahoney,
who has written here protesting against
the fact that the same soldiers are be-
ing kept in France as members of the
Army of Occupation as were in the
hardest hit units in the last days of
hard fighting. These Kenosha boys
want to come home now that the real
fighting is over and this sentiment is
well expressed in the letter from the
Kenosha corporal which follows:
Every day that passes brings us
nearer home we hope, although it is
only hope, thing in the distance,
to US 80 the fighting men of the United
States Army in the army of Occupa-
ton who today are watching on the
Rhine. The war was hard on these
men but this waiting is by far the
worse.
When the war was on, why we never
thought of going home we knew we
had a job to finish and we stuck.
One would have thought we would
have worried about getting knocked off
or getting hurt, but no we never
thought of any thing like that. We
were contented and put up with any
thing and never made murmur.
When we hiked long distances from
one front to another we were always
under fire of artillery, air bombs, ma
chine guns, rifle, gas, and many other
devilish things that the Boch invented
to win the war.
And then came the march to the
Rhine. They say it was an honor.
But "Oh'. "Oh", the sore feet. Poor
boys marching without stockings and
the soles off their shoes, worn out
marching. At that you never heard a.
complaint because we thought we were
to be sent home when we finished the
march. No such good luck for the
fighting division who has been through
hell and worse.
There are soldiers over here that
have never even heard a gun fired
have been in the s. Q. s. (The service
Of the rear) all the while. We know
we had to have some men back there
to help send us food, but not all of
them. Now they are being sent home
ahead of us. The Fighting Men.
Why not let them take our place and
send us home? We have earned the
right to be sent home. We have slept
in mud and water, and filth and frozen
many and many a night when we did
not dare to build a fire. But the boys
in the S. o. S. were in warm tents or
in houses. We have gone days with
out food and were up day and night,
while the boys of the s. 0. S. were as
safe as if they were home.
We read about the fighting division
being in nice warm room and in beds.
The beds are three blanket and bare
floor or dirt some times. The stoves
we only read about We read also
about the glorious Xmas which was
prepared for the fighting men. But
we only read about that too. Now our
work il done and we are waiting and
waiting to be sent home.
After all we don t seem to amount
to much. We all say if soldiers are
needed here why keep the fighting men9
Why keep the men that did the hardest
work and went through all the hard
ships over here? If Uncle Sam needed
us tomorrow we would be on the job to
help him. And he would not need to
spend money to draft us either.
John A. Mahoney,
Army Of Occupation U. S. Army.