The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1919-09-05
Then and Move.
Y ardamaya's Weekly.

a.
son in a recent issue OF Vardaman's
Weekly. | have tha utmost re.
spect for the old Coz federate Vet.
Grams of whom Mr. Hutson il one.
and for the cause they fought for
This il not written in any spirit OF
controversy. for the honored writer
il just fifty years my senior and ii
would i'll become me to controvert
my grandfather comrade in those
eyentfui days of the sixties. Some
Of the ,happiest hours of my boy
hood days were spent In listening to
the variations of deeds of daring
that my grandfather told. longed
come day TO be a soldier like him
and my opportunity came last year
/ went through the fiery furnace Of
the Argonne az a member Of one Of
the ightingest" divisions oyer
there, the Thirty Second, without
scratch and then with the division
to occupy its sector in the COblenz
Bridgehead are Through all the
fighting | had-and | am sure there
were thousands of other Southern
boys thinking the same-the heroic
deeds of the boys of 81 to spur me
on. We tried to emulate their ex-
ample, to be a. brave as they were,
and to show the descendants of the
boys in blue. our comrades in arms.
that the fighting spirit of old Dixie
did not die at Appomattox, but
was as strong and potent as ever.
How we'll we succeeded may be
Judged from the fact that though
was in a northern division, | never
once heard it said or limited that
Dixie did not bear it, full share Of
the burdens of the war. Then. too,
the song You'll find old Dixieland
in France" was not more poetic
than true. Indeed, it was so true
as TO be almost pathetic.
We have striven to emulate the
example of those old heroes of the
yesteryear, we have exerted our
selves to live up to their deeds of
daring and would 40 much have
received their appreciation and best
wishes. Instead. am afraid
that in some circles of the old Vet
Grams we have won, shall | say their
jealousy? hope not.
That reyered veteran (Mr Hutson)
was right in all his Thens' do
not doubt. He was there. That
he is honest and sincere in his
"Nows" | do not doubt. So. also
many other honest people believe
1t is the newspaper view. But the
facts of the Nows" were vastly
different. / was there.
Then they moved forward without
wager, while the battle flag waved
and the hands played Dixie" in
the rear. Now" we moved for
ward, without a WAIVER, and with no
flag in sight to cheer us on. The
only music we had was the shrek
of shells, the patter of machine guns.
and the low bark of the trusty
Springfields.
Now" he says we fought for
glory. cash and commerce. Per
hsps so. but those who said go, did
not fight, and those who fought got
none OF those gains. They told us
we were fighting to make the
world safe for democracy TO rid
the werld of the last autocrat, TO
crush Prussian militarisn. To
rescue little Belgium" and To
pay our debt to France for sending
Lafayette over To help us become
independent" We did all that.
If we fought for the other, we did
not get it. We, who fought. got
precious little cash. "A dollar and q
dime a day isn't much. after the in
surance premium is taken out. We
got no commerce. If we got any
glory, when was it2 Witness Mis-
sissippi's absolute failure to raise
the money to erect the proposed
memorial in our honor.
Now the soldier fares better
than the civilian in the matter of
rations." Ask any boy who was on
the front if he got enough to eat.
Ask him if he averaged one meal
day, counting his "Corned Willie"
and hard tack Ask him how many
days he had not one bite to eat. and
no way to get it. One element at
Chateau Thierry marched, three
days a forced march too. with