The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1919-01-30
LETTERS FROM THE FRONT
TO THE FOLKS AT HOME.

One Of the best stories Of the val
or and success Of our marines at
Chateau-Thierry is furnished by an
active participant in the battle
Joyce Lewis, of Long Prairie, Todd
County, Mimi, who received an even
dozen bullets in various parts OF his
body, but, after skilled treatment, is
still very much of a man." Joyce and
his brother, Billy Lewis, enlisted ear
iy in 1917, and were assigned to the
5th Marines. His brother was killed
at Chateau-Thierry. When he was
sufficiently recovered to use a pen,
Joyce wrote as follows to Mr.. S. l..
Frazier, vice-president Of the First
National Bank, of Verndale. Mimi,
now at Los Angeles, Cal:
The German advance, which was to
capture Paris and the war, had start
ed early in the spring. Like clock
work, the great German Army moved
forward, now breaking through the
English at the north, then striking
the French a staggering blow at the
south. Relentlessly, the German
machine had moved across France
toward Paris, until on May 80, the
German outposts at 1.-The Marne"
were within twenty-five miles OF
the city and all hope Of stopping them
seemed lost. The French were re-
treating, and so sure were the Ger
mans that they would march into
Paris the next day that the soldiers
were drest up as for parade.
The 5th and 9Th Marines were at
Verdun the night Of May 80. We
had been there for several months as
sisting in the defense of the lines at
that point, but had not had any heavy
to do. That night we receiv-
ed orders to get ready at once to
move. With only enough time to get
the necessities, we were loaded into
trucks, packed tightly as we could
squeeze in, and the two regiments,
eight thousand strong, started for
Chateau-Thierry, where the break in
the line had occurred.
We rode all night and ali tie next
day, without a stop. either to eat or
sleep, and, arriving at the battle
front on the run, were ordered at
Onno into
Brother "Billy" and I were OF the
first 1850 to go cover the top"
Eight hundred of these were either
killed or wounded, almost before we
go started. saw Major Beury killed
and shortly thereafter BILLY" went
down. He was about two hundred
feet from me. The boys were charg-
ing into machine-gun nests and Billy
was running along the edge Of
toward a wood where the
Germans were concealed. The first
bullet hit him in the top Of the head
and others lower down as he fell.
In the charge, l got within fifty
feet Of the German machine gun nests
when bullet plowed through the
top Of my skull. 1t was a bad wound,
by no means healed today, S months
later AS lay there I could plainly
see the German gunners, and hear
them talking. They could see I was
not dead and I watched them as
they prepared to finish me. They
reloaded their gun and turred it on
me. The first three bullet went
through my legs and hip and the
rest splashed up dust and dirt around
my head and body. Evidently think
ing they had done good job the
Boches turned their gun to other
parts Of the field. This was about
5:45 in the afternoon. That night,
about two o'clock, one Of my com
rades, Robert Hess, of st. Paul, who
later in the battle was himself killed
crawled out and started to carry me
back to the lines. When he had gone
some two hundred feet he stumbled,
a noise such as the Germans
heard. and they turned their guns our
way. Hess dropt me and, thinking 1t
impossible for him to get me to the
lines alone, he piled up half-dozen
bodies Of my poor dead "buddies"
and barricaded my position. There I
remained for several hours longer,
and finally during a lull in the bat
tie I WAS nnttan hack To the lines