The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1919-06-05
CEVENTY-SEVENTH, 20 PER CENT
OF WHICH Wr3 JEWISH, DID
GREAT WORK IN FRANCE.
IT MoPPED UP The ARG0NNE
Jew Soldiers Showed ao Much lnitia-
tive and CALAMITY as Any Other
Race-Row One chnaman Earned
the Medal of Honor.
BY EDWARD 3. CLARK.

cral once OF the war department d'e
the complete records of every soldier
volunteer and drafted man, who fought
In the great war. Some day it is prob
able that study will be made by his
torians of the racial groups found In
the records.
The army authorities of their own
volition probably never will group sol
diers, for purposes of publication, ac-
cording TO the races into which they
fall. The army naturally and properly
takes 1t for granted that every man in
the service is an American in all that
the word implies, and that ii may be
invldious and unnecessary to 20 fur
Their than this. Ii perhaps would be
impossible for the authorities to com
plete accurately list of the racial
groups, because If man is born In
America that fact is put down. and
nothing is said about the old world
nation from which he sprang; hut of
course something can be told by the
study of the name of soldier.
Students. however, who are interest
dertake 10 separate the soldiers into
groups according to their national line
age. They go on the superstition that
THE proper study Of mankind Is man"
and hat anything that relates 20 diff
ferences in capabilities and accom-
plishments of men Of different races
is so much gained.
Jews Made Excellent Fighters.
An army officer said the other day
that one of the great satisfactions TO
be derived from the American records
In the war Is the rehabilitation of the
Jew as n fighting man. Ii perhaps Is
not true that the jew In any way had
deterlorated as fighting man, hut
simply that such an impression was
abroad. II there was such an impress
sion IL has been lifted and thrown into
the discard by the fighting In France.
One record, a specific one. Is at
hand. The Seventy-seventh division of
the American army, otherwise known
sometimes as the Metropolitan divi-
sion, and more frequently as the Lib
erty division, had 40 per cent of Jews
In its ranks. They fought as well as
and perhaps better than their remote
ancestors fought against the Phils-
tines.
The Seventy-seventh division did
tremendous work west of the Argonne
forest, and later in the. ArgOnne IT,
self. This division In fact did large
part of the work of clearing the Ar
gonne of the enemy and il staid in the
fight, with the exception of n short
period of rest, from the beginning OF
the northward drive on September PC.
1913, until tire thing ended in the
suburbs Of Sedan at noon on Novem-
Der IL, 1913.
The word of the officers is that the
Jewish soldiers Of the Seventy-seventh.
not all of whom had had complete
military training. went into the fight
ing rs n matter of grim business which
was TO he cleaned up in the shortest
order possible. There are many of
these boys who today wear Distin-
guished Service medals and French
Crosses for conspicuous personal gal
lantry I'm action.
Gallant Work Of Individuals.
The Jewish soldiers showed for the
main part just as much initiative as
the men of any other race. Frequently
individual soldiers were compelled by
the force of circumstances 10 Ego IT.
virtually alone, or at any rate In little
groups of two or three. against ma
chine gun nests. In the face of ter
rific fire these boys, using such shelter
as they could get. closed within hand
grenade throwing distance OF the Hun
machine gunners and bombed them To
death or 10 flight.
The Seventy-sevcnth division had
representatives in It's ranks of yir-
tually all the peoples Of earth. There
were more Jews in II than of any other
one specific race. The CO per cent of
the division which WAS non-Jewish
was made up of Americans Of long
descent. of men born In Ireland. Can.
ada, England. France. Germany. Italy.
Poland, Russia. Scandinavia and even
China.
A Chinese member of the Seventy
seventh division, wounded and gnssed.
stuck 10 his post of duty, with the
dead and dying all about him, nnd.
alone and exhausted almost untu
death. continued To transmit the mes
sages which were entrusted to him.
He is now the color bearer of the
outfit 60 which he is attached. and he
wears the insignia OF all the honors
which the French and the American
governments can give him.
Soldiers Flock to Mount Vernon.
Thousands upon thousands OF Amer
lean soldiers within the past two
years have visited Mount Vernon. the
home Of George Washington and the
scene Of his death. Thousands more
VII visit the place before final demobi-
llzation comes.
Mount Vernon has taught It's lessen
of patriotism during this war to q
multitude OF young Americans who. II