The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1919-03-22
UNSUNG HEROES
Of THE BATTLEFIELD
MEN WHO DROVE AMMUNITION
AND FOOD TRUCKS TO FRONT
LINES DESERVE MEDALS.
NO THOUGHT OF OWN SAFETY
Made Their Way Along ShelI-Swept
Roads in Inky Darkness, Determined
Only to Get Their Loads to Oes-
tination
By EDWARD 8. CLARK.

coming for the most part as lndlNluu-
ais. are arriving in Washington day by
day. Among them, as i'll other places
in the country, are many of those uh-
sung heroes of the war-the men WHO
drove the ammunition and food trucks
Ia the front lines along shell-ralneu
roads i'm the darkness of the nights.
When Il soldier returns to his home
town and people ask him what he dld
AMI his modest answer Is, Il drove
truck" they may be inclined TO turn
from him as one little worthy of atten-
ton rs n soldier of the line. In truth
many of these truck drivers were IN
the highest sense soldiers of The line.
They ran risks as great as those OF the
men who went up against machine-gun
nests and, unlike the dOughboys, the
engineers and the others, they have
been given little credit outside of the
army for what they did.
German airplane observers day after
day marked out the roads leading to
the American front When night fell
ard the trucks started for their des-
tinatiOnS laden with the neceSSarieS OF
the cOmmiSSary, or of front-line action,
the Hun would open with his batteries
on the lines of communication. The
driver felt his way along the black
roads with no light of his own or Of
another To guide him, not knowing at
what moment Il dropping shell would
| bring death to him and destruction 10
/ his charge.
Hero:sm Of the Truck Drivers.
II is the testimony of soldiers all
| along the front that the truck drivers
/ thought more of the safety of the mu-
nitions and the food intrusted to them
than they did of their lives. They
knew that the men at the front were
depending upon them 10 do their full
duty and to get there though hell broke
along the way.
Nerves were unknown to the army
truck drivers ut the front. A shell
dropping into or near a truck load of
high explosives meant that of the load
and the driver nothing again would be
seen. 1t did not mean death merely
for the man on the seat, but 1t meant
that of him no fragment would remain
for the burial, the flag and the firing
party.
The truck drivers, especially those
who were plotting loads of high explo
sives, were more or less fatalists. DC
casionally an attempt would be made
TO stop them because of particularly
heavy Smelling along one sector of the
way. Some of the men refused TO bt
stopped, for their thought was "thi:
stuff must get there" and it either die
, get there or the driver died.
Some of the drivers of the indis
pensable trucks with their indiSpen
sable loads have been given medals
for their high service. 1t is necessar.
J.. when q medal is given that the deed o
the recipient shall have been attestet
! Dy witnesses. Ii is certain that hun
dreds of devoted drivers did thing
deserving of the highest recognition
that the government can give, and yet
, manifested, they must go along thrOug
+, life with no outward and visible evi
dences of their herOism, but must con
tent themselves with the inward salts
faction which always is that of ma
y who did his duty.
Return to Civil Life Not Easy.
: In congress every day during tn
winter some one or other had some
thing to say about the economic an
l Industrial readjustments necessary be
cause Of the effects of war. No on
I had anything to say about mental RI
adjustments, but that they are neces
:, sary before some millions of men an
d women settle down to the proper eQu
librium of life no one in WashingtO
il seems to deny.
l. Possibly Ii Is more marked in tn
capital of the nation than elsewher,
n but the men and women here of tn
A civilian population seem to be "f1Oa
4 ing mentally" What Is so marked |
the men and women in civilian attir
. here is ten times more strongly mari
| vi III Illt Iuell anu NO1DtI Ill
who have seen actual service. 1t mus
he remembered that many wome
donned nurses or canteen worker
garb and served abroad.
1t probably will not take long tim
J. TO restore the warriors and workers I
o their normal condition. but today til
men and women of Washington VIII
e have engaged in war work at home al
,. wondering what they are going to d
next. and are certain that they mu.
do something In the future that
more strenuous and more useful tina
: anything they did prior To the outbrea
y of the war.
All Wish to Keep Busy.
n Organizations of men and wome
u here are casting about for new fielC
% Of endeavOr. Ii was only the 9th.
day that COO women met AT big di
u ner party to discuss what their st
9. must do to keep all of its member
usefully employed for the years
come in the odd hours which can |
spared from the duties of household
business. that is, business for tho:
IL "Prince Charlie"