Connecticut western news., 1919-04-10
CORPORAL MURPHY OF HOST BATTALION" HOME Wounded at Chateau-Thierry
 and Was at
 Soisons

The majority of people in this vi- cinity have read of the Host batt@- lion" under command of Major Whittlesey of Pittsfeld; they know of the hardships, almost beyond hu- man endurance, through which these men passed, yet few realized that any man in this vicinity was ss honored and so fortunate as to have been with that famous battalion and escaped alive.
 Corp. John H. Murphy of Falls Village, who was discharged at Camp Upton last week, was with this batta- Ilion serving in the Engineers Corpa- After much difficulty a represents tive of tho News was enabled to iA- terview Corp. Murphy at Falls ViL llage, where he and his wife arc stopping, and while we feel there ia story glowing with interest regard ing his experiences, he had little ~ say, apparently wanting to forget there ever was war.
 When asked how he thought the battalion became cut off from tho rest of the division, he said he didn't know and that few men knew tbey were cut off the first day. He statea that he was with the engineers con nected with the 304th Infantry wifea they were surrounded in the Ar gonne Forest, during a night attack. in a small gully. After finding they had been separated from the divS- sion, man after man tried to get word through, but none ever re- turned. If man attempted te stand up German snipers promptly disposed of him and to strike match was equally dangerous.
 When the scant supply of food the men had was exhausted, they ate leaves, roots and berries. Men would pick up pieces of dirt in orde~ to suck the moisture from it to ob- tain relief for their terrible thirst- Man after man went crazy and -as they got to their feet were mowee down by machine gun bullets. Such were the few but terrible facts which Corp. Murphy related. &
 When they went into the fight every man had 100 rounds of amrau- milton and after being rescued Corp Murphy said he was minus most of lhis clothing, and all ammunition, bus still held his rife. Aeroplanes coul9, be seen from time to time circhqx labove them, but no food or tobac6@ dropped was found until after ,ths lbattalion had been rescued. ParA@ of several divisions claimed tAha. honor for the rescue, said sCorpy Murphy, but there is only one nmr Iwho really deserves the credit tod saving the lives of so many men& and he is Major Whittlesey. Yo@s can't give the Major too much cred lit, he remarked.
 Corp. Murphy enlisted in OctobsS 1917 at Fort Sloeum and arrived in France on June 2I, 1918. He waS at Chateau Thierry, where he wsM wounded by a machine gun bulleE and also at Soisons. After return- ling from the hospital he was made ~ dispatch carrier and was in the bit- ter fighting on the Champagne fronk- When the Armistice was signed hm was on active duty near Metz. B~- fore leaving for an authorizations point he was stationed at Coblenz.
 Corp. Murphy told of the treach- cry of German prisoners, and wKen asked if he had any personal exper- fence with them, hesitated and toId of how he was escorting two to the rear when they attacked him. "DsA YOU get them to the rear, CorporaI?~ "No", he said, "I didn't have to-" 1t was not all war while in France and Corp. Murphy told of many hu- morous and interesting incidents. He told of the Indian soldier who won the D. s. Cross and lost N shooting crap. Of the French wom- an who said the Americans never, sleep, but promenade all day ana steal wine at night He spoke ef the "corn willy" and French "mon-, key meat" which he said one couM chew for a week and never get yosw teeth through. "
 He spoke in the highest terms of the Red Cross and said the Thanks giving and Christmas "Turkey"- hSt had was "corn willy" As cornew beef is sometimes called Irish tur-, key", he had turkey after all IA regard to the soldiers mail, he saix that only small number of the letters and packages ser. ever reached him.
 Corp. Murphy said he had the finest kind of time and he had no regrets. He wears the gold service stripe, wound stripe and insignia of the engineers of the lost batta- lion. He came home with the 199tk Casual Company on the Manchuria and was discharged at Camp Upton. Annual Meeting
 At the annual meeting of tas