New-York tribune., 1919-05-21
The Truth Tour
BY Wilbur Forrest

NOBLENZ, Germany, May because
4 numerous "irrepressibles" and "irre-
sponsibles'' who wore the uniform of
Uncle Sam in France went home with exag-
gerated ideas regarding the American army,
the war and themselves in general, a long
special train marked ga E. F. Press Special"
rolled into the Coblenz railway yards to-day.
The two facts contained in the above para
graph seem strangely apart, but the truth of
the matter in plain language is that there
has been some 'tall lying" at home about the
war, due mainly to ignorance of the facts,
and General Pershings headquarters is there
fore conducting campaign of education for
soldiers who came to the army from the
newspaper profession and who soon go home
not only to talk about the war but to write
about it for years to come. So some two
hundred ex-members of the newspaper pro-
fession aboard the special here to-day owe
their visit to famous American battetields,
General Pershing's headquarters, the entire
service of supplies, and, finally to the army
of occupation in Germany, to the imagina-
tional agility of certain soldier comrades who
have in hundreds of cases told such obvious
"whoppers" that these "whoppers" have re-
The WhoPper Room
There is small room in Paris into which
these "whoppers" have been reboundng with
such persistency during the last few months
that they were finally called in bulk to the
attention of General Pershng's staff This
room is the editorial sanctum of "The Stars
and Stripes" the official army newspaper
Over the desks of Captain Mark S. Watson,
former Chicago newspaperman, and Lieu
tenant Stephen ]. Early, former Washington
writer, editor and assistant editor, respect
lively, pour the heart and soul of the A. E.
F. These desks and the men behind them
feel the pulse Of the American army. The
American soldier considers "The Stars and
Stripes" his father confessor," or his open
forum and he makes his complaints, not gen.
orally to his lieutenant, captain or major in
the field, but to thl desks of Captain Watson
and Lieutenant Early, who gauge the merits
of the "kicks" and answer them either bv
publicity in "The Stars and Stripes" or by
private correspondence with General Per
shing's headquarters
1t was through never ending flow of this
heart and soul correspondence that the
"whoppers" began to appear as a real men
ace to the mental perspective of the folks
at home. Soldiers reading their home paper
would clip out "whopper" and send it to
The Stars and Stripes demanding publicity.
The Stars and Stripes" adopted the policy
OF investigating extravagant stories and
when untrue reprinting them with the facts
and name of the soldier whose imagination
ran riot while talking to some reporter for
the home paper.
4 Boy Hero
youngster in st. Louis told local news
paper how he lay for five hours on the bat
tlefleld holding his severed juguar vein to-
gether to prevent bleeding to death. When
the stretcher bearers came, he told in dra
matte detail how bullets flew so fast that
they cut the handles off the strctcher. He
recounted other thrilling experiences and
told of many wounds until he got his picture
in the paper posing as the "boy hero The
story, picture and all, came back to comrades
who knew him Intimately" in France, and
they sat down to write the truth to "The
Stars and Stripes" Official Investigation
revealed that the "boy hero" had not been
wounded once and had run very small risk
of even being hit.
Brooklyn newspaper printed serious
story about two returning soldier boys who
had so often been led lover the top" bv the
noted French "Generals' Vim Blanc and Vim
Rouge. 1t took no official investigation in
France to determine the facts and expose the
narrators of the story by name in The Stars
and Stripes"
Close Investigation Made
A captain of engineers of the 77th Divi-
sion was credited with telling Buffalo news
paper that the 77th won the war. alone and
unalded, making the armistice possible bv its
drive through Argonne Forest Without in
any way diminishing the excellent iphtino
record of the New York METROPOLITAN divi-
sion, the armys official publication renrinted
the interview with comment, mentioning the
captains name.
between seventy-fve and one hundred LOT
ters from officers and men alike. who stil
remain IN France, inclosing clippings of homa
told "whoppers," have been reacbnp tbo
desks of Captain Watson and Lieutenant
Early every day for weeks and the flow con-
tlnues on the upgrade. Only lack of space
has prevented publication of all of them
alter the close investigation which is mado
In almost every case