Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1919-06-05
LIEUT.. HENRY
CARTENS TELLS
HIS EXPERIENCE

Carstens shortly after returnin
from France we have the followin
story as given to us which we al
publishing for the benefit of tn
readers of the Enterprise.
Sailed for France and were sen
to little town called Champcol
old Company l., Now Company
146 Machine Gun Battalion, wa
sent out to several divisions in small
-dSatnWents leaving only a small
training cadre, l was sent to schoo
in Langres on the 1st of April anC
after 16 weeks of real manual Labor
was commissioned to End Lieut.
along with d. w. Canham of Nyssa
we were both sent back to Co. A
again as officers and stayed two
weeks, then we were sent to the
Corps Replacement Battalion where
/ stayed until about October End
1918.
1t was about this time that
heard that my brother Herman was
in France On arriving at Headquar-
ters 30S Infantry on October 4th
in the Argone Woods / was told of
the lost Battalion or the 77th Di-
vision, and a kind hearted Captain
told me that as officers didn't last
long, I'd probably be Colonel before
long. The next day | went under
guide and Joined Co. M, for no
other reason except that l knew it
was cut off like the End Battalion
of the same regiment was. On join
iIk the Company l asked Lieut..
d Ire by the name of SULTAN, where
the front line was and being an Irish
man and apparently enjoying a
sod joke at any time told me it
was up on top of the hill and that |
could find it any time l went up.
did as he said and decided it was
time to dig big hole and get into
it. While talking with the 1st Sar-
geant and between shovel fulls OF
dirt, some one came up behind me
and asked the Sergeant permission
to go down and get a new gass mask
as his had been shot through max
ing it unsafe to use, / thought
recognized his voice and turned
around and found him to be my
my brother Herman whom l had
not seen since leaving Payette, what
said to him for being in such a
place as that would not look very
god in print and his reply was about !
the same to me.
He then told me that he had |
Joined the Company on August 28tn |
with about $50 other men as re-
placements and with what was there |
the Company was then about 1S5 |
strong, and at this time had again !
been reduced to IS men. They |
had been over the top two or three |
times a day and we're the most mis-,
erable men | ever saw, but when |
told they would attack again in the
took it with grin. That
night we were pulled back few
hundred yards for the barage,
never heard SO much noise in all |
my life nor ever want to again. On
the next morning l took my first
"Oyer the Top" l can't explain my |
feelings exactly, but really wished
[ was home with Mother. We lost
only about % men in less than half
as many minutes, Twas nearly wor-
ried to death about my brother, we
both came out alright. 1 told him
| couIdxSse care of myself and he
said He same TO me. I don't know
| evA regretted meeting one of my
own kin so much ? in my life, al
though now it is all over | am GLAD
it was that way. We were forced
back that day and the next, that
night they literally blew the hill
off of the map and we got 20 the
ost battalion without any further
resistance. Here l saw the most
.errible sight 1 have ever seen,
men who had been lying (
here for five or six days without
medical attendance, men with brok-
IN limbs and one man with both 4
arms gone. They had been there
Xix days and had been shot at from
Ill sides. The first thing they ask
ne for was a cigerette. However {
We couldn't stay there very long, g
20 wara kent right on pusbing
,head meeting all kinds of Machine
Jun fire and some artillery Four
more days fighting found us up t
against the City of Grandpre, with S
myself and 81 men representing the 6
Company of 1876 of seven days be- L