Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1919-07-04
AS THEY See IT
The Points of View sf Some of the
Fulton County Boys Who are St;n
on Duty as Revealcd-Tn Extracts
From Letters Written by Them

Recently Mr. R. C. Campbell has
been receiving letters from the boys
IN whose names Bring EN- Back /
War Savings Stamp clubs have been
organized and the points Of view OF
these boys. Of ours who are far
from home in a strange land as
well as the bits of experience which |
some Of them write are, to say the
least mighty interesting to ''us
home folks" Here are a few of
them:
Irving R. ("Steppy'O Stevens, U.
S. S. Nevada writes:
Concerning that little request
that I relate one or two personal ex-
periences; as you would be glad to
present my letter for pub ication.
l hated to disappoint you; the
little yarns / would spin would have
to be of q warlike nature in this
case and the Hun never came out
on the seas TO do battle. never came
up from below the surface of the
sea, nor did we strike any of their
mines in our cruising about; so you
see, I could give YOU no tale of
strife or bloodshed. All l could tell !
would be of constant watches at our
guns or in the masts; chilled
through and through by rain, fog
or cold, salt sea spray and always
the uncertainty of just when some
ring might happens-A strain on
the nerves from which there was no
retreat to rest billet.
Private Orsbn Beebe. Ambulance
Co No. IL 1st Division, Army of
Occupation Hillscheid, Germany,
writes this experience: Early in
September 1918 we drove the Ger
mans back, very easily in the st. /
Mihiel salient and stopped when the
ines were Strengthened out in a,
laEge forest which had been occn-
pied by German officers; they had
TO leave in a hurry and left most
every thine they had which mace
our stay there very peasant. 1t
vas only matter of few days
that we were to stay; because there
was going to be another big drive
The first night we had all cleaned
I'D and were in quite a nice place,
but as we were enjoying ourselves
a couple of shells came in our drec,
Jon. 1t was discovered that the
enemy bod a large gun and its
crew inside of our lines: 1t would
only fire at night and in the day-
time stay concealed. Our BOYS
soon "got them". and what they did
with them is needless to sav-Wef
alwavs called khem "good square
heads% after we got through with
them. :,
II was getting near the end of
September when we started on our
hong hike: we krew we were going
somewhere whe1e there was some
fphting and we soon found c7~-
selves in the Argonne Forest. We
went into the lines at night and
could tell by the surroundings that
there had already been some fierce
fighting. At last came the exciting
orders we had been expecting most
anv time: They we're "Over the
Ton" at sEch end such q time. me
comnanv I was attached, to were
holding the lines and were heavily
shelleI most of the time, many be-
inc killed and wounded
Earlv one morning the barrage
started and all you could hear was
our guns with once in awhile an
answering shell coming in our d.
rection Then it commenced: the
/! !ourhbovs were up and at them.
They advanced over hill and thru
thu " wooded forests al the time
many falling wounded or killed. We
arrived at a hill that was under di-
rect observation of the enemy; if u
single person crossed this hill he
was sure to get swiped at with a
long range gun; many got past 1t,
but many fell, paying the supreme
price. We got past this awful
place and over to the next valley
which was considerably hotter; not
onlv she ling us heavily, but also
throwing in gas on us, 1t beng
ouite damp. We had to wear our
masks hours at a time; it soon got
so hot that we either had to 90 w
\ little farther, or back so as to get
out Of range: The word retreat
was not known at these times In
the First Division, so we went for
i ward.
l sure would have sold my
chances for a n clzel if l could have
found place to spend it or get I
drop of water; water was cheap W
there at a thousand dollars a drop
I was then informed that l was t.
art as a runner and was trusted
with an important message to carry
20 the battalion Commander: l haC
to 90 through heavy machine gun
fire and a valley that was shel!et
, and gassed all the time.
> | got the message over all righ
but as | was there my eyes were o.
q fire. at least they seemed so; ! go
! back right, or tried to think | wa
. alright, and reported to my Cap
S tain that | had got the messag
\ over: He noticed my Cyes and (
II could only whisper. He said | ha'
;, been gassed. / was aware that
Il had got a little too much of thos
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