The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-04-01
Four American Guns Await Order
to Fire.
OFFICER SEES THE cHEvRON
II It Hadn't Been Clear Day Knights
Of Columbus Secretary and Iowa
Corporal Would Not Be Here Now
to Tell the TaIe-Yanks Thought
They Were Huns and Had Guns
Trained to Wipe Them Out.

If Sunday, October 10, 1918, had not
been a clear, bright day John J. Nc
Bennett, Y West Sixty-ninth street.
New York, just returned from France.
where since last May he served as a
Knights of Columbus secretary, would
not be living today. He admits 1t and
his contention is supported by Cor
poral Bill Hale of Iowa. circulation
manager for Stars and Stripes, the Of
fetal organ of the A. e. F. Hale, too,
has cause to remember always that
that particular day was bright and
clear-at least in the Argonne section
Of the battlefields in France.
McBennett sid Hale would certain
~ have been blown off the face of the
earth If n keen.eyed American artil-
lery officer had not, through a power
full field glass; happened to see the
X. G. chevron on McBennett's sleeve.
There wasn't an instant to spare, Ell
Their, because four big American guns
were trained On the men and the sig
nal only was needed to blow them to
smithereens.
How 1t Happened.
It happened like this: McBennett
who had been delivering supplies to
several of the Knights of Columbus
buildings at the front, returned to di-
vision headquarters near Rarecourt
Saturday night, October II, with his
automobile out Of commission. He was
wondering how he could manage to get
these cigarets and chocolates where
they would do the most good when he
happened to see Corporal Bill Hale
coming along with camionette, deliv-
ering a late edition of Stars, and
Stripes. .L..-.
Hale agreed to help McBennett out.
They made an early start and headed
for Fleville, then started for st. Juvin.
which McBennett understood was Oc-
cupied by American troops, but later
developments proved that $50 Ger
mans were concealed in the town and
outskirts.
Got Out to Adjust Curtains.
They kept going until they were
within rs yards Of the city. They
stopped their car and decided to get
away from there at once. Hale got
out Of the car to adjust the curtains
on one side and McBennett left his
seat to arrange the shields on the
other side. They finally turned around
and they got back near Fleville.
On the way back to the lines Nc
Bennett and Hale met Father Mar
telle, chaplain of the Three Hundred
and Seventh engineers and Three Hun
dren and Twenty-first field artillery.
The priest told McBennett and Hale
they certainly were the luckiest men
in the world, because on the preceding
day, when they had ridden into Fle-
vile and started for st. Juvin, the
American troops stationed in noun
tain near there had seen them, but
could not make out any name or in
sigma on their caE and when they
saw them ride by these German ma
chine-gun nests they naturally con-
cluded that they were Germans and
thus decided to mop them up. Four
guns got their range on them imme-
diately and would have received the
signal to begin firing had it not been
for the keen-eyed officer referred to.
his glass he happened to see
the K. G. chevron on McBennett's arm
and the order to fire was never given.