The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-03-22
HE RALLIED BOYS
Father VIM. L. Hart With the
Boys Thru Fighting.
Urged Kansas Troops On To
Whip the German.

| The 140th infantry, Us. A, is made
up of doughty lads from Missouri and
Kansas, and on the 29th of September
| last at Charpentiere in the Argonne
they were called upon by Colonel
DelaPlaine, their commander, to go
| into battle against picked and desper-
| ate troops of the German imperial
| army. They marched forward. in a
| sickening drizzle of rain, crouching
| under the barrage sent over to protect
| them by the American artillery. The
| boys had never been in so intensive a
| battle before-a few minor skirmishes
| constituted their initiation into mod
ern warfare. But this was a big act,
one of the chains in the great offensive
| that broke the backbone of German
morale and brought about a speedy
ending of the war.
| Up the boys from Kansas and Mis-
| souri, went, a few yards at time,
| their teeth set, their bayonets pointed
| forward their hearts eager to get into
the midst of the enemy. The Germans
| SPRAYED them with machine gun bull
lets, and here and there a man fell.
hit and hit hard. But his comrades
| kept on, the bitter intensity of war
forbidding halt at that time to succor
the fallen.
/ Sent Over the Gas
The Germans sent over waves of
| gas and fire into the ranks of the Mis-
sourians. The boys, already groggy
thru lack of sleep and nourishment,
were hard hit. This was too much for
| flesh and blood to withstand Some
OF the officers fell, and thick smoke
clouds made the going extra hazardous
and difficult for men with inadequate
leadership The boys found them
SELVES straying, out of touch with the
companies ahead, until strong Yam
kee voice, with a touch of brogue
hair
Keep on forward. forward" it was
chaplain Bill Hart exhorting them.
Ihe Germans are straight ahead
boys. Go to it and give them hell"
Up and down the lines of stumbling
Fighting men the chapla went, urg-
ing them on, dipping his hands into
his great coat pockets and thrusting
SUCKS of candy and a few raisins into
the mouths of the oncoming fighters:
blessing the boys of his faith who
asked for his blessing. and patting the
backs OF the boys who were not an
parently in need of encouragement.
Shrapnci Drowned Voice.
| The men followed his voice, drown
ed every other minute by the crash of
shrapnel They kept on, steadily on
until with final squirt and shout they
| dashed into the heart of the enemy
and won their way.
From the headquarters of the 35th
| DIVISION on the 15th of November four
| days after the last shot of the great
war had been fired, came a citation
which read: Chaplain William IT,
Hart of the 140th infa ntry not only
| rendered spiritual aid to the wounded
but gathered stra gglers together. and
oy word and example, without regard
LOT ms personal safety, encouraged
| them to action" The citation is die
tated by command of Major General
Iraub and signed by Col H S. s
| hawkins. chief of the general staff
/ beiore going overseas as a knights
or Columbus cha plain last June Father
Hart mad, for eleven years, been con-
nected with the parish of St Marks
IN st. Paul. He served as Knights
or Columbus chaplain at Camp Fun
ston and went overseas with the bows
he had learned to love and taught to
love him at that camp.
Boys Would Make Good.
Il knew those boys would make
good once they got into actiorr~~oyer
d1d, with vengeance The Germans
We're mighty sorry to meet these men
from Kansas and Missouri, just as
they were sorry to meet any Yankee
boys.
But I want to say that the bravest
men who draw breath are the litter
bearers, the men who so up under
the shells and machine gun bullets to
bring back the wounded who are so
= badly done up that they can't walk
back. They are supposed to he men
not up to the usual mark of fighters
But they have done wonders. display
ing cool nerve under the most Cruel
, ling fire. Many a mother would be
mourning for her boy shot down on
d. the battlefield if some one of these
I brave lads had not rescued him at the
1 risk of their own lives"
, Father Hart reports that nothing
was more desired byT the boys going
into action than K. of c. hard candy,
l IN Cnf-ih nod 1Nr H. Low OF
y st. Paul. supreme physician of the X.
of c.. when he went overseas for the
e Knights. Father Hart would load up
3 with raisins and hard candy before an
L engagement, and, during the heat of
4 the battle. would dispense these crea-
. ture comforts to the men in conjunc-
ton with spiritual consolation-muc
e to the heightenihg of their morale.