Evening journal., 1919-10-03
SENTENCED TO DIE,
BOY OF 10 IS HERO.
Court-Martial Didn't Know
What Jeff Cook Had
in Him
CORPORAL HAD
1T IN FOR HIM
Rr IrssE z. GELpERs.


X E. A. Oklahoma City. Correspondent
wlLBURToN, okla. Oct. s.-The
ecuri-mariisl didn't know
that a ie-year-old farmer lad could
be used up utterly by the strain Of A
too-long vigil;
that lad standing asleep in A
srcneh. his torpor-dimmed eyes siil
toward the lines OF the Zoe. misht be
ihe stun Of which heroes are medeg
That such boy might come back
for more after=heing gassed, and
ripped BY machine gun bullets, until a
riccc of shrapnel stopped him in the
Arsonne.
The court-mariiai only knew that for
sleeping on sentry duty, the punish
ncnt is death.
And so for seven bleak months JEFF
Cook waited for The nrins squad IN
tl he Was pordoned by President VII
son ''''
Cook. now IS. Is at Wilburton
4 ran away from home and told The
Fort Logan, Colo, recruiting officer
tnal l was iS" he said. Il did nearly
All my training in France. They put
me in Company 6, i6m Infantry The
FIRST DiYision-rcgulars. We went TO
she front in October.
"Niy corporal think his name was
'Walentic seemed to have something
sgsinst me and boy named Forrest
sebastian. Forrest was rs, ana oi
course. VIC couldn't do things Just like
the other men. Who we're older ana
hardened Ne were Just kids.
corporal Malentic was always tell
,rg us You fellows need your moth
e-s along with you.
One night 40 about a. the Germans
ms6e trench raid" Cook continued
'lt lasted something Ike 30 minutes 4
and the corporal put me aud sebastian
on guard ill 8 in the morning.
That day they kept us at it--tw Q
hou-s on. and four or When night
came Corporal Naleniic had us on
for i2 hours again. II was drizzling
rain. and the mud in some places was
ankle deep"
All the next day again, u was two
hours on and four on Through Wet
and chill They stuck TO their vigil. EN-
hausled at the end of The two-hour
watches. they would drop Imply.
neavily. into slumber that couldn't re-
fresh.
rhcn. when the four hours had
lsscd. hcy wouh :. tcuicd ou /
ssan. bodies poisoned by fatigue
weak unsteady At 6 o'clock that
nisht-thc third night, sebastian and
cook were pat at il again, for al
twelyc-hour stretch
Il was worn out says Cook. Cor
poral Waleniic didn't relieve ms DIDN'T
nave any other menf Well, he oit
some others on. after we had ssN
1T guess It must have been ahou' II
o'clock that he came around ard
touched me ] was standing up, le5n-
ing against lhe wall OF the treneA
where 70 was a little dry ! hst bern
looking out toward the enemy
Where Is your gun he eo-fnral
asked me booked around for H. ana
fold him / didn't know lie hal laG-n
% and turned 10 in to the Lieutenant.
Then he sent me 10 a dugout
sebastian had fallen asleep, TOO /
There were nve others, but they were
lovcr convicted
.rWhen,.we went before the lieuten- /
ant the next day. there were tears in /
ais ewes as he told MS what a serious /
,ffense we had committcd--that there /
was lust one sentence. death II we
oyere guilty sebastian choked up and |
criod We told the lieutenant how y |
happened-how the strength had sim |
nv left our bodies
when the courtmartial came there /
was only one ihing TO do plead not |
giIliy.' and claim we hadn't been
Ssleep I didn't tell my advocate that
had dozed. and he said a lot Of
things about how ! might have been
lookine out over the trench at the
time they claimed 7 slept But ! guess
inc lieutenant had 10 tell them what
we had told him. and they sentenced
sebastian and me 20 be shot,
Then. Cook relates. they were sent
10 the euardhouse. coopcd up in the
shaky loft Of an old barn There were
noles in the roof. and the snow came
in Oh the beds The hobnailed shoes
sot wet and froze stiff so they could
moi be put on
When the resuBr soldiers went for
ward on duty, the doomed pair accom-
eanicd them.
Buf when the company rested. .
saws the boy his eyes glintng, "Sebas
tan and ] had TO work on tho streets
IN the rain and mud no matter how
tired we were
A new day dawned, uncertain, but
bis and full Of hope The two youths
determined 10 show the world what
vas in the American soldiers, so saved
from American bullets
Al Canitgny. Cook gulped chlorine
gas. but pressed on with his COM
rades. At scissors a machine gun bull
lei tore through his right leg An
other ripped across his lett foot. Sc
bsstian gave first aid
little while later German. shell
stuck near Sebastian and he was
killed He died a hero.
lust think what the courlmartlal
1idn know