The Cordova daily times., 1919-03-19
Rs EVERY WEDNESDAY


mail was allowed to go out from
American prisoners. On January 25th
a wire came from the Red Cross to
the German commander demanding
the names and whereabouts of all
American prisoners captured on No
vember 8, 1917. The sergeant was
then at what he calls "hell-hole-
Tuchel" Germany. He at once sent
in the names of all the American pris
oners he knew of who were captured
with him ON that date, and this was
allowed to go through.
Red Cross Boxes Arrive
"Within a month after that" says
Sergeant Halyburton, RED Cross
boxes began to arrive regularly about
every week. Apparently the Huns
stole a small percentage of each ship
ment of the boxes each week, as there
we're always several missing and each
!
men,"
While at Tuchel the sergeant wrote
the American Red Cross at Berne,
Switzerland, telling them the Ameri-
can prisoners there understood Tuchel
was to be made the official American
prison camp. This was the Yanks'
| &o11
At the suggestion of the Red Cross
representatives at Berne, the Ameri-
can prisoners at Tuchel had organ
lied. They then wrote the Red Cross
for reserve supply OF food and cloth
ing aside from the regular weekly
boxes. zone carload of such re-
serve supply was shipped by the Red
Cross" says Halyburtan. But the
Germans stole Sc out of a 100 pairs of
shoes in the shipment" The Ameri-
can lads were able to prove the goods
had been stolen by the Huns as one of
them found a button off German
soldiers coat in the car. The greatest
!
TWO-RED CROSS
doors of the car was taken when the
Yanks went to get their shipment.
1.-THE Red Cross is wonderful" ex-
claimed Halyburton. "They supplied
us so well that a prisoner receiving
his weekly box never needed to touch
4 c1o fire.
Germany prisoners in West Prussia
all worked except the top sargeants.
was put to work on a wagon drawing
wood fourteen kilometers a day, tIst
like mule" The sergeant kicked so
that later they classed all American
sergeants as top sergeants and there
after sergcants did not have to do this
work. All the other enlisted men did,
however. There was not a horse in
the camp" he continued. "The pris-
oners had to do all of their work in
stead" After months of hardship at
Tuchel the Yanks there were sent to
Rastatt.
Recommended for Commission
In a letter written by Colonel w. l..
H. Godson, U. S. cavalry, military at
tache at the United States legation at
Berne, Switzerland, to Sergeant Haly-
burton, the colonel states that he is
recommending the young man for a
| A., 70
the commander-in-chief of the Ameri-
can army, because of the sergeant's
services to his country while pris-
oner of war in Germany.
Sergeant Halyburton's story will go
down in history He is perhaps the
one man qualified to compile the Off
cial report of the treatment of Ameri-
can prisoners in Germany. He has
been in the regular American army
for nine years and his home is in
Stony Point, N. C. His outfit, the 18th
infantry, was among the first Ameri-
j, can units to go into action. They were
in the trenches in October, 1917, on
the Rhine-Marne front in Alsace-Lor-
raine. Sergeant Halyburton and ten
comrades were probably the first pris-
oners taken by the Huns. They were
captured on the night of November 8,
, 1917, in a trench raid twenty-five
kilometers from Nancy, near town
called Battlemont. Three Americans
were killed in the raid.
y y y.
!. Word comes in a letter from
1 France that at the coming of peace
the hilarious joy Of the French people
living in the small, scattered villages