Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-25
Crawford Hero Of the War.

Lieutenant George A. Crawford, OF
Wilmington, Delaware, will be found at
the top of the roll of great heroes of the
war when, in the near future, the valiant
services of the brave soldiers who fought
in the old world will have been appraised.
Even Sergeant Yorke's courage and bra
very in capturing unaided more than 100
| German soldiers at one time and taking
| them into camp almost pales into minor
place besides the daring of Lieutenant
| Crawford who alone faced n ship laden
with Bolshevik crossing the Dneiper river,
in the Kiev section of Western Russia,
and from his airplane poured shots from
his machine guns into the vessel and on
her decks dropped burning phosphorus
that eventually destroyed her and drown
ed almost all the hundreds of Soviet
troops aboard.
| When the order came to the aviation
corps to attack the ship, Crawford found
| himself the only man in his division pre-
pared to undertake the commission, and
he set out alone in his war plane to ac-
| comnlish the tast-most important il was,
for il meant cutting off the retreat OF the
Reds who previously had been pushing
back the Poles in the drive against kiev.
Lieutenant Crawford made flight OF
sixth miles before he located the fleeing
troop ship. He first swept the ships
decks with his machine guns 1.-THE reliable
Associated Press reports while the f'eos
were sending up a tremendous volley OF
shot and shell from their anti-aircrait
guns. They pierced his plane, rlddied ",
in fact and the bullets whistled
savagely all about him. Nothingdaunted'
he stuck to his task until he saw from
above. through the clouds OF smoke, the
Reds" jumping into the river ana 'he
burning ship destroyed.
Crawford's act was herolsm OF the
highest order. He approached the vessei
laden, as it was, with armed troops whose
only chance of escaping with their nves
was to DESTROY the American flyer. Con-
sequently. they fought him with savage
fcrocity. but his courage was more thah
match for all the ship load OF "heds
and he won.
1t was a fitting recognition Of the young
Americans bravery and of his great ser
vice to Poland that the Polish women mere
carried with their thanks and gratitude
an offering of flowers to the brave heu-
tenants mother directly after the news
OF his heroic achievement had reached
his home
One can imagine with what pride the
mother of the new hero of the war ac-
cepted the grateful offering Of the women
for whose land he fought. She has gwen
10 the cause the son of her bosom and
he has shown the way to glorious deeds 70
the soldiers of all other nations. she
must be filled with happiness and graft
tude that her boy, when the moment
came to test his bravery. neither iai-
tered nor gave thought to peril, but
went to his task. although il seemed that
| death must be the only reward Tor such
heroism. She, too, must have recalled
that in the earlier stages OF the war
he had been taken prisoner by the Ger
mans and held for months captive, bali
starved and brutally maltreated. He
knew the danger of his dash, danger that
threatened sure death if the single chance
in ten thousand he had accepted failed
| him.
We congratulate the mother of such
sons as hers have proven, for she un-
complainingly parted with two to go TO
the defense of democracy when America
took up part in the war.
America, always proud of the heroism
of her young men, will look in vain over
the records of her soldiers for braver
deed than that of Lieutenant George a.
| Crawford.