New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-04-06

vt is wonderfully living account
which a certain unnamed gunneEy
IA. sergeant Of the Marines gives IN
THE Independent" under the head
ing, That's How 1t Feels Tc &c Shot.
The narrative, one is advised By the cd'-
tor. was scrawled in The form of rough
notes in shell hole at Chateau Imerry'
lust before and during the fight, and then
when he lay wounded. Loss Of blood
mad already begun to cause the weak
ness reflected in the last few sentences,
but this abruptly vanished in the torse
official report which closes the story
This gunnery sergeant belonged to the
9th Regiment of the United States Ma
rines-a regiment which received both
the Croix dc cucrX and the Legion
d'Eonncur. Following is the account:
This is the memory OF the sunacta pale
radiancG myaterious.y melting int sum-
mer's s1rlght We arc on broad, com-
Portable Hill slope; It spreads we'll to The
right and we'll to the Left and it reaches
down to little woody ravnc. The other
side Of tho raviac is st3cp: it also is
wooded; it is not high, but reaches above
the level Of my eyes as stand OH Che hill
slopc. What brilliant starlight.
$500 the hill slope v bdig HOES. The are
Craze Hike but shallow. The hole dig may
save ms lie Shells scream when they come
They n4ke great noise when they explode
They kill. We dig these holes TO hide in
to crouch and SILVER in. It seems strange TO
dig in the starlight a hole that may SAFE
ny life. 1t is quite coothc night, | sup
pose digging viii warm nc. This clay is
stiff hard to dig. In the dawn We will so
I'd and over that steep bank on the other
side of the ravine. There will be bullets
to meet US hope will not be hurried
up the bank! 1t is steep. | am tired.
How strange they look they dig their
ItLIlS 81 d. SS. Oo We 20 ONCI III Vic udN II.
must dig What will it be like? Screams
shells, bullets, blood. ] must dig faster or
there will be no time for sleep. What is the
use Of sleeping? We go in the mora
ing The fresh earth is cool. How dark it
looks in the starlight. This time to-mor-
row Home is SO far away, so removed.
remote, and consequently so douby and
desperately dear. In the dawn we 60
over. Will we 60 through the woods or will
it be done in the open? Will the day break
any differently tomorrow? The stars say
MOI. The hole is deep enough. wonder if
it is long enough.
How cool and moist | sec nothing but
patch Of dark sky and the swimming stars
Here stay until dawn the inevitable dawn
hope it will be clear day. | wonder what
real bed would feel like. Oh, New York!
SO far away. The lights--thc crowds-the
theatres! The subwaythe taxis Home!
| in a dark hole. Earth, then nc and
then SKY. ! feel alone may die to-mor-
row. ] don't think so, but may. It is the
only tnlng mat iS not lncvttaDlc. Inc stars,
the dawn. shc sun, tho line Of boys. the bull
lets, shells. oil arc inevitable. NJ death is
not. fecl quite safe and secure ! nm glad
That am we'll trained Sleep is SLOW. had
better close my eyes. We 80 over in tho
dawn. Boys will drop dead II seems hard.
Il is inevitable.
Dawn. This is The d0y We do it. must
scS ny PACK together. Time 10 fall in.
form line. Time 20 become part Of
unit time 20 stop being ones SELF How
sleepy and unintcrcsting Gerry ono looks
They don's .ook as they ought 10 look be-
fore going over. Here we TO- We do not
Keep step. It Is not important that We
xh0Md. Who haa 4 cixarstts1 Smoke Is xnod