The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-02-03

Some of Them Were Not
S sticus, for All Their
Importance.


Importance.
CNe Of the most interesting soldiers
Ie that has come to hand is the
iUli6 ring written by Howard L.
G1itSS. d son Of the late w. L. Gaines.
q a M war veteran, and MIS-. Rachael
y, e lines ot Worthington, who is 9
dltkiikef az q civil war veteran and
hi lie dis tinction Of being the daugh-
let ~ q s0ldier, the wife Of q soldier
an9 iiie mother Of q soldier
SiSfshahn, Germany, Jan. 4, 1919.
4 am q soldier from West Vir-
EIiiS 4 Thought ] would write q small
sletcii 0f my travels since / left the
Unit States.
suppose my name sounds familiar
n & RTeat raany Of you as my home Is
ID Wofttlngton, W. Va, Marion
county.
left the states the eleventh Of
9nhe, 1918, and sailed on the Gram
pldn Glasgow, q small vessel the Eng
Iltll captured from the Germans. The
sea was very smooth during the whole
TIP, the weather nice and bright.
There were twelve vessels in the feet.
We landed IN Liverpool, England, on
the twenty third Of June. From there
W. crossed England to Southampton:
from there taking q vessel across the
English channel to lie iaavre. France.
While crossing the channel we had
% merry chase by one Of Fritz's subs,
s but our destloyers soon sent him to
the bottom Of the sea.
From tho docks we hiked to rest
camp, overlooking the sea which was
very beautiful. There we had a few
days rest and exercise which was a
great beuefit to us after our long trip
on the vessel. m
we left tliis camp and went to st.
Agnon; by rail 1t took us two days
and nights riding in boxcars with just
barely room for ten men; instead Of
thirty mon with full equipment were
placed In each<car, therefore you can
& imagine low much comfort we had
4 eating corn bill and bareback. There
we had s rest for ten days and spent
the Fourth Of July with plenty to eat
and drink. On the eleventh Of July
they chose one hundred OF us to be
sent to the front, Of which I was one
OF the lucky ones. From there. we
had q long boxcar ride which was
again very, very uncomfo rtahle. IL
! setm sas, though this was the only
means by which the French had OF
moving our troops in back Of the lines.
We arrived at Blecourt on the thir.
teenth Of July, where / was assigned
TO Company /, 18th infantry Of the
First American division Of which / am
still member.
After staying there "a few days we
started 70. The front and on the morn
ing Of the eighteenth day Of July we
went over the top, which was the first
day Of the great battle Of Scissors
which lasted five days and nights.
This great battle was the turning
point Of the var and from ttat~day
on until the gning Of the armistice
we had the Huns on the run. on the
morning of this great battle the
ertcans put over one Of the great
eat barrages that the Germans SAY
they ever experienced. In. return the
GERMANS also put over a heavy bar
rhge, but were unable to hold 1t on
aecount Of our terrific artillery and
1iiie fire. :.
Our company two hundred and
nifty men went into the battle and
when they came out five days later
we had only company OF forty men.
ln this great battle the Americans
fought Germany's finest and best sol
dters which we're known as the Prus-
sian Guards. From the way thew were
equipped 1t looked as though thew In
tended to come over the top them.
selves Tor they had an extra change
Ct clothes: they also had packs on
their backs with extra ammunition
which showed they were fresh troops.
They also had their artillery to moyh
~ close to the front lines witch wa,
either IN pits nor. camouaagsd. This
vas the time the boys Of Uncle Sam
tcbles thcm for we captured thirty.
ftxe hundred prisoners, three h1ndrctl
and sixty-tf7s places OF artiller. md
thousands Of machine guns. Tho HUI,
SfsgSsA4sS W U0 q fCOWdEQlyi SOlQler 1Or
they wont come out and fight like
men.
During this five days Of continuous
nehting we had only One little sand.
E1ch; believe me corned bill and hard.
tsck would have certainly goa, good
zen e it cca have been ab.si6cd,
but the hgutlns was Sc severe that
Che Tati0ns could not Save. been
Drought up to the men In tho front llns
Our company was in the from. line
ths drstt three days; 1t sure was an
aMtal struggle to gain q few feet OF
gf0dnd. a 81
The first division boyss bowed the
sss1 American spirit and never turned
back for every time they. were called
Smiley responded and the fire from
me Sermans could not stop them, for
4 our general told us. It wasn't the
IT
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