South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-03-16
DOUGHBOY WRITES
SOLDIERS PRAYER
K. of c. Secretary Says Spirit
of American Soldiers is
Not Broken.
By CAL. 5. CHALMERS.

(knights Of Columbus Secretary :
PARIS. March 1.-THE spirit or
the American soldier who chafes I'M
der what he feels IS an undue re-
straint in France and all along the
line Of the big army Of occupation
in Germany is not broken. nor are
the Yankee troops rOicing loudly
any emphatic protest
Nevertheless. they want 10 20
home and the lucky units that are
daily embarking at all army ports
are the envy Of all organizations
held in overseas service. The sol
diers' prayer written by a dough-
boy who dropped in at the Paris
clue OF the Knights OF Columbus for
writing material with which 10 eX-
press his general ideas about mill
tary conditions here, was not writ
ten in a spirit Of rebellion. merely
IN the way Of an earnest and per
haps pitiful appeal for relief The
prayer runs thus:
Our Father who art i'm
Washington. hOnOred ny the
name. Give us this day our long
delayed pay. And forgive US our
y. W. %. Il. as we forgive the
buslCr. the mess sergeant and
all those who wear bars.
"And lead us not into the
army of occupation. But deliver
us from fatigue, for all these
/ are the VI. r.. the Field Clerks,
the .. Ms. forever and ever.
All QUIZ"
The doughboy had come from
/ Germany where he was stationed
near COblenz. His prayer was that
of ninety-nine percent of the men
now in Europe, yet there is no We
/ hemence in their plant, no waning
/ patriotism. no forgetfulness of the
great importance of their mission
and no serious ridicule of the pow
ers that keep them here.
To a wonderful degree this pres
4 ervation of morale has been accom-
plished by the militarized civilian
\ bodies whose activity has been re-
doubled since the signing of the ar
mistice. The soldier who wrote the
/ foregoing prayer was asked: why
/ do you fellows keep such a stiff up
ate comrades departing for America
/ daily: don't you sometimes feel that
/ the selection of debarkatiOn units
might be changed to include your
OUTFIT" The reply of the man was
characteristic and 10 the point "As
| long as we can be kept anywhere
near comfortable, have enough TO
eat and wear. a good billet plenty
of sports and entertainment and the
other little things that are coming
/ TO us now with regularly, we will
stand the delay with patience, even
If we do get critical once in a
while"
1t is just this condition that the
Knights of Columbus as an organi-
zation is striving as never before
since the beginning of Americas
work in the way TO accomplish. Par
ticularly in Germany is this tense
lactivity being maintained at it's linn
il. First across the Rhine, the
Knights have ever since kept up the
pace Of advance which was then
demonstrated. Today there are more
than 20 secretaries in CoblenZ. 9th
ers are being sent from headquar-
ters in Paris as rapidly as supplies
for their use may be transported.
In Coblenz the work has been sue
cessfully supervised by John ]. DON
Ovan of Boston, Mass. who was
lamOng the pioneers in the German
field. Mr. Donovan returned to
Paris the other day for a brief So
jOurn, and his enthusiastic descrip-
ton OF the work beyond the Rhine
was worthy OF a wider audience
than the little group of secretaries
TO whom he told his story in the ex-
ecutive Offices of the X OF C.
Mr.. Donovan took up his duties
In Coblenz very soon after the actu-
al pioneers Of the advance move
!: ment Charles Phillips, Herbert
/, WEIGH and Francis erosion had
!: blazed the trail into the then I'M
: known field of Hunland. Today the
work is so well established there
that II will soon be necessary 10
: erect a new stOrehouse for the sup
: plies TO be distributed throughout
the district where the army of occu
patton is centralized.