The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-01-04
FATHER PER|GORD DESCRIBES BATTLE GROUNDS
Tells Of Tragic Day.

For bravely they died, these boys of
mine! Most of them on one tragic
day. Throughout 1915 the crown
prince had tried to outfank Verdun
by the west Had he succeeded in en-
circling that fortress westward, as he
had done eastward in the St. Mihiel
salient, a frontal attack might then
have quickly brought about it's fall.
This is why he assigned to some of
his best battaliQns the task of con-
quering the forest. In September he
had come dangerously near it's south
ern edge. Our division was then sent
to keep the enemy, at all. cost from
| the valley of the Biesme, which would
have given him an outlet south of
Verdun.
The fighting that ensued was ter
rife; we left two-thirds of our regi-
ment in the forest. The Germans
drove us back to point but one mile
distant from the little valley, but that
one mile the legions of the crown
prince never made!
With reverence, 1 went over every
bit of that holy ground. I passed our
old first-line trenches, then the Ger
( man lines. The enemy had gone, re-
| lentlessly pursued by the Americans.
! Everywhere | could see evidences of
his defeat.
Spirit Of ExuItation.
Suddenly, along one of the commu-
! T FIJI
chatter. | listened, looked in. They
were the victors: young, big, healthy
boys in khaki. could read in their
eyes the exultation of victory They
were the fortunate ones; they were
reaping the harvest. During ten
months, in that now glorious forest,
we had known nothing but the bitter
est. struggle; for a while hundreds
fell daily, and apparently to no pur-
pose, as we could not stem the tide
How We were wishing we could at last
leap. forward; but we were fighting
against odds too great.
talked to the boys in kahki and
told them how happy was their lot.
They smiled and said: Yes, sir, we
have them on the rum" The young
officer who was with them, a fine
face, with light and determination in
it, understood me. He came up and
said, modestly pointing to the French
braves, ''but they, too, sir, share in
the glory. C'est tout pour la France.
If the spirits of the dead bless the
living, what benedictions must the
dead boys of France pronounce over
these young American crusaders!
Thanks to them, their sacrifice has
not been in vain.
Dawn Of Victory.
There is glory in fighting a losing
fight for a righteous cause, for a just
cause can be but temporarily checked
/ But how much more satisfying to
witness it's actual triumph! Happy
American soldiers! They have all
fought or died with the dawn of vic
tory tightening their countenances
and warming their hearts.
| AS I was leaving this holy ground
a strange, feeling came over me. l
felt would come back to that spot.
have left there SO much of my
| soul. Somehow these boys will eX-
pect me back. When I deem my mis-
sion fulfilled, when l have paid to
society the debt we all owe to it, /
feel I shall return and settle there
not far from the Franco-American
! forest and live there in communion
| with orr oroat doad
| You see, when the days of the great
| struggle are over many of you, and
| particularly the young generations,
| will recall but it's glorious ending. The
| world will, no doubt, have gone on to
| other tasks and forgotten much We,
the old soldiers, will have to keep
| burning in these huge green yards the
| fire of constant and loving remem-
brance-remembra of the French
! boys who closed the door to Paris,
| of the American boys who opened the
| door to Metz and the Rhine.