Baxter Springs news., 1919-05-23
N0N BDMDAIANIs
ARE Home FIRST
Soldier Writes Thrilling Account
of War But Complains Of
Unnecessary Detention.
= In Europe "


most interesting Of all the letters from
the soldiers In Europe that we have
had the pleasure of reading, 1tis from
W. D. Wilson, of LaBette, Kan. who
Is a nephew Of u. C. HOckep Of Hook
erville, and W. E. Maddox. Of this
city: Z
Coblenz, Germany, April q, 1919.
am q member of the End Division
from near oswego and have been
reading stories of the wonderful work
of certain divisions, told mostly BY
men who have just returned from
France. We all know that each has
done its bit as far rs II was possible
and as much as 1t was capable Of and
give them plenty Of credit for It, but
that is no reason why they should be
given all Of the credit while the men
of other divisions who have been over
here twice or three times as long rs
they have and who went through more
hardships and battles than the others
Were days in France should be slight
ed.
am writing this mostly because
all the men who have gone back so
far are noncombatant troops, all ex-
cept few casuals, which area very
small part Of the A. E. F. There are
very few fighting men that have re-
turned to the States. The men who
have done the fighting are still over
here on the Rhine, waiting to see their
chance Of going home. Among them
is the End Division, the pride of the
American army, the sayiOrs Of Paris
at Chateau -Thierry, the men who put
the fear, of America into Germany at
Scissors and quite few other battles
that I shall tell you about later. These.
men are regular army men, so OF
course will be the last to return to the.
States, and by that time the other
troops will have the public full Of their
praise and their doing. It is not thru
jealousy-just through q square deal
that am going to ask you to print
this in your paper. By it / will an
swer the question Of who, or rather,
what is the best American division in
France.
With the outbreak of the war there
was need of q much larger army as
everybody knows, so the regular army
was split up and filed with volunteers
which after a9summer's training was
off to France where they again went
into training for the battles that were
to come. Most Of their training was
cut in half, as the need Of troops at
that time was very urgent as Ger
many had an army Of several million
men released from the Eastern front
with the downfall Of Russia, waiting
for spring to overcome the French and
English and get to their goal-Paris.
The End Division was formed Of the
5th and 9Th Marines, the 9th and 2Srd
Infantry, the 18th, 18th and 18th Field
Artillery, with the End Engineers and
End Quartermaster, End Ammunition
Train and Motor Supply, and went to
the Verdun- -Toul-Tyron front which
was quiet at the time, to release the
veteran French troops there for ser
vice elsewhere. They were in this
sector from March is to May 10, 1918,
and showed ability to such q good ex-
tent that when they were relieved to
put other American troops in. their
places for training, they went into re-
serve behind the English who were
then receiving the onslaught Of the
Germans on the Somme.
It was at this time that the Ger
mans opened their drive at Chautean-
Thierry for Paris General Foch be-
ing very much in need Of troops and
having nothing in reserve but the End
Division, they were dispatched by both
motor truck and train to Chauteau-
Thierry to stop the German drive and
prove to the world that the American
troops were good, if not better, than
any other nations in the great war.
Il was here that the End Division
not only stopped the Germans but
drove them back across the Marne.
It was while the people back in the
States were reading in the papers
about the Americans that the Marines
and 9th and 2Srd Infantry, backed by
the 18th, 18th and 18th Field Artil=
lery, were doing such wonderful work.
for seventy-two hours eOntin-
uOusly, without supplies, and when the
battle cleared the French hailed the
End Division as the saviOrs Of Paris;
and the End Division proved to the
world that the American fighting men
were as good as any in the world.
At Chauteau- -Thierry and in cOntin-