The sun., 1919-02-08
blinded HEROES
RETURN, CHEERFUL
Standing on Saxonia's Deck,
, They Gravely Salute Miss
Liberty as Band Plays.
JERSEY TEACHER IS GUIDE
Private Green, 46, Back With
Wounds Received While
With Engineers.


yesterday as the transport Saxonia
passed I'D the bay to her pier. The blind
can hear more acutely than those blessed
with eyes, and when the greeting steam
ship Patrol. playing THE Star spansled
Ranner," ranged along the starboard or
shore side Of the Saxonia every one OF
tn ealert fourteen knew he was pretty
close to some emblem dear to the Ameri-
can heart.
Corporal Henry A. Bittner. an 1owan,
Of the s52d Infantry. with both hands
gone with his eyes. and Sergeant Stanis-
laus Nagorka of Chicago. sightless ana
armless, were the first to ask what the
invisible thing was that had inspired the
band to play the anthem. Another oiino
man, who had the tip from comrade
with vision, said it was the statue OF
Liberty.
Most Of the blind soldiers had seen the
immortal lady when they had gone away
secretly to fight in France. Some or
them asked TO be turned so that they
might face the mighty symbol. and when
they were in position they raised the
remnants OF their arms and gave the
goddess the most impressive salute she
ever has received.
Heroes Were Thrilled.
There was nothing dramatically pre-
conceived about the action Of the blind
soldiers. They seemed to be perfectly
unaware of its possible uses in the NOV
Ing pictures. They were simply thrilled
by the psychological conjunction Of the
Homecoming, the music and the bronze
lady. They did not make faces or sned
tears, not being built that way. In
fact. after they had paid proper military
tribute to the goddess and the occasion
they dropped into testing, in the Amer
lean way, remarking that it might have
been worse and that 1t was mighty good
70 pass the old girl even II you could
rot see her.
The man who helped the fourteen
elghtless ones on the way across and
who had been helping them in hospitals
on the other side Joined In the general
salute. He Is Walter f. Baker of Ar
iington. y. j., who has been blind since
he was six years old. He sailed for the
western front eleven months ago and
speaking French f1uently was put to
work teaching the blind soldiers of
France.
MIR Baker heard OF the needs of the
blinded American fighters and decided to
help them along. In October he went
TO base school at Savenay, where there
were at one time more than fifty sight
less compatriots. He taught the Braille
system OF reading to those who had
arms and encouraged the blind and
handles to believe that they could be Of
great use In the world IL they only
plodded and kept up their spunk. He
vas with the fourteen who saluted, as
sisted by hundred or more who could
see. but could not walk without canes
or crutches.
Brooklyn Boy Wounded.
Among the local heroes-and how can
q newspaper hope to mention all Of the
mighty roster in a ship of 1892 Yankee
folk all with wounds without an extra
edition or so-~as Private William
whalen OF the Seventy-seventh Division.
VINO halls from South Brooklyn. He was
carrying a bag OF hand grenades. after
fighting gloriously two days. when some-
thing went off. He was very weary and
could not keep tabs like a wide awake
man, but he suspects 1t was the bag OF
grenades. Anyhow he woke up in a
hospital with his left hand missing and
both eyes gone.
Private Charles p. Green Of the
Twentieth Engineers returns at the age
OF IS with his uniform full of wound
stripes, service stripes and decorations.
He is somewhat of a fighter and has
Yiddled all the hemispheres with bullets,
also few Huns. some Indians. limited
number of British and a few Fflpinos.
from which II might be inferred that his
speciality Is war.
That's what II is He went from a
little Pennsylvania town, too small to
coop up a cosmic ambition. and lived
among the Indians in North Dakota. He
had some trouble with them and lit out
We were having the Spanish American
skirmish then and he Joined a Dakota
regiment and got TO the Philippines,
where he put some OF the unruly natives
TO sleep. They gave him a medal for
that. lie heard about the Boer war
and went over and offered to help fight
ing Ia the artillery with Capt. Pet
Hasss battery. He shot up the British
as much as he could and they returned
the compliment, landing seven bits OF
shells and bullets in his person. lie got
we'll and more medals
Fought in Mexico.
When the trouble with Mexico started
Green raised a hand OF Crow Indian
scouts. holding them at Fort Keogh.
ewaiting an invitation of the Govern
n1ent to step in and capture Mexico.
The impending war wound up with the
Vera Cruz battle and Green disbanded
his red men. lie was too old for the
army, regular or volunteer, when the
great war arrived. so ID sought and
got "a job with the engineers, who were
really lucky.
Everybody seemed TO be shooting at
him after his command got into action
IN France. He Is a pretty large target,
standing six feet one inch in his bare
feet, SO that may be the reason. One OF
his fvo wounds was received at Soils
sons on March "a. and this is what he
says about the occasion:
81 was fixing some boards in a trench
when patrol OF Germans came upon US
and began throwing hand grenades, 7
was chock full OF spllnters before YOU
could say Jack Robinson and went
down. The little fellow alongside OF
mel would make two OF him-tlrove
the whole bunch off by himself They
had done the usual thing. shouted
kamerad Then they sprang up on the
rarapet and hurled grcnades. The lit
TIC fellow, maybe he was too little to be
seen, but he certainly was "A game one
just pumped 1t into them as fast as the;
came over and he killed three, one after
the other, and scared the others off
TN glad TO be alive. OF course, but
death doesn't worry me. II is lust a
matter of fate, that's all"
Also the Zacapa, from Bordeaux, ar
rived with fine lot Of gallant Ameri
cans, and the French liner Espagne.
and they had more stories than you could
get even In the most enthusiastic local
papers West. East or South, whittier
many Of the arrivals are bound
capt Daniel w. Strickland, New