Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-10-12
THE GREATEST SACRIFICE.

The need for volunteers to. protect the
nation Was great IA , mother sitting
,age hoping that Uncle sam would
skip over her two sons. William and
James. They were her only depend
supper was ready and the boys not
at home Mrs Filler could not imagine nsI
were always. on time. Another hour
passed and the boys not at home. The
long nt"e when ms she Ss heard the front door
shut. 1t was the boys They were
an AL excited cited CONGRESS had passed the
the risk. OF being drafted. The boys
were twins at the age Of twenty-three:
the hoys decided TO volunteer and get
into any branch of the army. they
Signing up in the morning and ready
to leave the following morning. They
Including incl their new uniform. As they
were ready TO leave the mother called
them and said. II have a few words words
me every day and tell me how you
feel. Ali the mail may not reach me,
nostca am WeeK on rhe ou insisted on
their mother going to the station. The
mother finally DECIDED to go. Tears
conductor hollooad all aboard" The
/ train slowly pulled OFF from the sta
,ion: Back to the hones the broken.
/ would see her sons come back vic
| torious. But she tried not to think
While the boys were in camp the
mother received letters every day. One
day telegram hoe came to Mrs Filler Her
the i S. S. Mississippi At irst the
was duty calling and they must obey.
Getting letters every day and finally
the two weeks ended. the last let
place where they were to sail from.
They told their mother in the last let
ter not to expect any more letters for
write just as soon as they landed. The
mother was held in suspense whether
man government issued a proclamation
to the rest of the world saying that
that came in certain zone marked
out by Germany would be torpcdoed
But they arrived safely. the mother
them being delayed.
The boys knew how to repair and
run rHnr, an nIrpiane They Knew almost
about the machine. And this is why
the commanders in chief called on them
western front. AS soon as they were
settled AT the aviation camp, 5000
miles from home; message was sent
to find out who're the enemy's armies
were situated. They were to start
say one me mSrnns r ana make eamp
returned. two missing. William. act
! ing as captain OF all the planes. and
reported the two were taken down by
a hard fight. the Americans outnum-
| bered two To one.
an went we'll. William and James
But once James and William were
called to the generals office. The gen
eral said: Boys the crisis has come.
n
force the enemy across the Rhine in
sixty days In the trenches and ma
tillcry between the hours OF A. VI.
and p; n. We want to put up tho
need the, help of the aviators. we
want each machine equipped with for
~ rolls or machine gun bullets and
bombs. In other words. ill your
planes and put up the hardest tigh, in
history, the general said. These
best best '"'' IVY '' "''"S 40 your
On this certain morning the boys
started off. every. machine fully equip
ped with ammunition. Again the Ger
mans outnumbered them To every one
American plane that fell five German
William and James we're in the same
plane. William the pilot and James
working the machine gun; y bullet
held the propeller and broke il off. The
plane and the two boys tumbled TO the
Srounu, o.uuO rect In inc AIR. into the
valley Of death. Although the Ameri-
cans suffered great loss. the Germans
were defeated on all fronts and re-
treated.
Blu, that was not all One morning
bright and early the postman came. 4
letter from the War Department tell
ing her OF her sons death After the
mother read the letter she tainted
The loss OF two sons she never did get
over 1t. About Il month after came
another letter from the War DEPART
ment to Mrs. Filler. 1t was letter OF
sympathy also two medals for distin-
guiShed service. Even that would not
keen her from forgetting II. But there
Ia one consolation. They died to save
fEnd)
]. STUART WHITE