Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1919-05-22

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feel to you for the services you
! have rendered our country in an
hour of peril. Of course, l can
speak formal words of welcome,
/ but | cannot express those min.
, gled emotions of gratitude, re-
spect, and honor, which we all
feel, but none of us can properly
express. Actions speak louder
than words, and the warm hand
clasp, the smiling faces, and the
brimming eyes of your friends,
assembled here to honor you,
speak welcome words are pow.
erless to express. And as we
look into the faces of you boys
and see there the smiles that
won't come off, we are made to
believe that you are just as hap.
py to get back home as we are to
see you here.
l want to tell you a story that
| think will illustrate just about
how you boys feel about the ex-
periences you have had.
| | met a man in uniform. Two
years ago he was just boy. Two
years of war made him a man.
He had just arrived home from
overseas. He had been over the
top" several times. He left many
of his company in graves on the
other side. He was not a man of
many words. He was no longer
impulsive. He did not get eXcit.
ed. His war experiences had
sobered him and he had learned
to measure words and things as
he had been trained to measure
and guess the size and motive of
his enemy. Mud, mire, rain,
cold, hunger, and danger had
been his lot. Far from home,
among strangers, facing death
day after day-all had contribu.
ted toward making him man.
We shook hands and l said to
him: Young man, you have had
a great trip" For a moment he
was silent; then he replied, Yes
to hell and back" These were
the words of that boy who had
been where you boys have been,
had seen what you boys have
seen, and had endured what you
boys have endured, and while |
don't like to use such rough eX.
pressions in public speech, yet
| believe you boys vii agree that
it just about expresses what you
went through with over there. "
When you wrote back home. as
some of you did, that it was hell
up in front, we didn't think of it
as profanity, but as the plain,
terse statement of a fact, ex-
pressed in the strongest terms
the English language was capa.
bic of expressing it, and today,
safe back at home in Gods coun,
try, far away from those heart.
rending scenes of war and strife,
as you look into the smiling faces
of friends and loved ones, as you
gaze on the familiar scenes that
surround you, and realize that
this is home, sweet nome, and
that terrible orgy of death and
destruction, through which you
have gone, is a thing of the past,
it must seem to you like you
have been transferred from pur.
gatory to paradise.
Less than two years ago you
left us-hut what an eventful pc
riod of time those two years have
been, and different is the condi.
tion of affairs in the world then
and now. Then that great Prus.
sian military autocracy, dominat
ed by a lust for world suprema
cy, was hurling the most power.
full, best trained, and best equip
ped army on earth against that
allied line. They were battling
back all opposition, leaving be-
hind them destruction, desola.
tion, despair, and death, and the
fate of democracy trembled in
the balance.
That proud nation of people
that considered themselves su
perior to all other people and
destined to rule the world has
been humbled. Her once power.
full armies have been defeated
and hurled back across the