Republican farmer., 1919-02-28
SECOND DIVISION HAS HAD BIC PART
 IN CHANGING COURSE OF WAR

saved Paris in the great counter of fensive that broke and rolled back the tide of the invasion from the heart of France, in the action that pinched off the St. Mihiel salient, in the battle that pierced the German line in the Argonne, in the stroke that relieved Rheims-in each of these momentous struggles the Second American Di- vision had a large share.
 In coming years, when historians and military experts calmly and dis passionately unravel the tangled skein of events of the great war, they may contend that the Third Division play ed a greater part in changing tho course of the war than any other American division-perhaps any sin gle division in Europe.
 The 2nd Division captured about | one-fourth of the entire number of prisoners taken by the American Ex- pediuonary Force, captured one | fourth of the total of guns and suffer l ed about One-tenth of the total cas- 1 ualties in the American armies. | The division landed in France in the early autumn of 1917. The officers were mostly experienced regular Army officers with regiments com- 1 posed of a nucleus of Regulars and marines filled to full stregnth by men 1 rom every SeCuOO OI the LulteQ i States, but largely from the middle West.
 l In March they moved up and went in with the French for six weeks training on the Mouse heights near l Nerdun. Outside of exciting patrol ling activity and a few raids. the soc | tor was quiet" Then the Second was | entrusted with a. sector of it's own in l the Eparges region.
 | About the second week of April the 1 Germans launched a remarkable raid | Under cover of darkness about 500 i Germans dressed in American and French uniforms and speaking French
 and English infiItrated into and l through the lines. Before they were aware of the deception two com panies of the Ninth found the enemy
 among and behind them. Despite the i great disadvantages and confusion of l uniforms, tbe little groups rallied. Then ensued a savage fight in the darkness. By daybreak the lines were cleared of the enemy. The Germans
 had suffered heavily-sixty-s dead 1 Germans were picked up in our trenches, and scores Nmped or were carried back to the enefny trenches. The American losses were unusuaIs light. That was where the Second
 learned it could whip the Boche. | After six weeks in the line the divi- sion was withdrawn for rest and
 training.
 Then came the dark days of May and June. The German flood broke 1 through the Chemin des Danes and poured swiftly toward Paris. The whole world held it's breath as the
 gray masses drew closer and closer to the capital of France The Second was
 called upon for the supreme test. On the night of May 30 the orders reached 1 headquarters.
 Throughout the night the division
 prepared teverishly for the move.
 There ws4ss no sleep that night for the
 officers. In the early morning long
 columns or French motor trucks
 5000 of them-runfbled into the divi-
 sional area.
 The entire division of 27.0O0 men
 was quickly loaded and the memorable l rush to save Paris started. Through
 the long. hot day the lines of crowded
 trucks tore along the dusty roads. As they passed scores of French villages the peasants lined the streets and
 cheered frantically and threw flowers
 at the trucks. They knew the terrible
 significance of the coming battle.
 After a fatiguing journey of about
 100 miles the division was detrucked q
 directly in the path of the advancing l enemy, where he was nearest Paris
 The lines were thrown across the ia
 nous Paris-Metz road. Then followed
 a forced march of 12 miles toward
 Chateau Thierry. The broad highway
 was crammed with pitifu1 caravans
 of distracted refugees fleeing from the
 foe. On the same road were the
 columns of French troops withdraw
 ing. As the 9th Infantry was de- ploying runners hurried up with the 1 orders to go into the line within a few
 hours. The men were told. They i'm mediately unsh houIdered packs and
 threw themselves upon the ground tc
 snatch q few minutes of sleep. Few
 had slept for thirty-six hours. A group of French officers looked on in amaze ment.
 1 DO these. men understand? 2" they asked. Do they know that within a ! few hours many of them will be dead How can they sleep if they know 2
 The French officers were told that the
 men understood perfectly - that they were husbanding their strength for the
 fight.
 Fortunately at this moment the Ger
 mans were forced to slow up their ad
 vance for a breathing spell, but mean. while pushed up troops for a fresf drive designed to reach Paris. On the : morning of June the Americans tool over from the exhausted French . twelve mile front. There were no re 3 serves between them and the Marne. = On the first day in the lines the ma. , | rines repulsed an attack. Then th'
 historic fighting in Belleau Wood. II !, their first attack the marines gained = foothold in the woods in the face O g 1 terrible machine gun fire. The wooC e was literally alive with machine gun j ners. In the almost inpenetrahIe un 8 1 derSrowth and among the rocks tn, = Germans concealed scores of machin,
 gun nests arranged for enfilading fire
 For days the ugly man to man fight
 ing went on. Meanwhile Mouresche
 had been penetrated and held securely } One by one the machine gun nest
 were wiped out of the sinister wood
 ! mostly with the bayonet.
 After nearly two weeks of bitte f fighting, during which a, regiment 0 = TO CONFER WITH WILSON.