The Delta independent., 1920-10-29
BY CAPT. EDDIE RIckENeAckER.
Chapter 8.

~ ~AFI 'EpOIE' HICNEN6ACNEH.
Chapter 8.
1t is solemn thing to go out TO kill
or to be killed Most men do not like
to go. They go because duty forces
them to. Their sense of duty to their
country Is stronger than their sense OF
self-preservation. They face death be
cause they ought to protect what they
love at home.
That Is what makes spirit in an
army. The West Pointer calls it mo
rale. Without this fighting spirit Il
soldier is not worth much. and an army
is no army at all. Every soldier knows
this. And so he asks:
"How are you going to get the prop
ar fighting spirit into American troops
when. under article 10. they will be
called to hsht for Poland against Rus
IA. Or for Roumania against Bulgaria.
or Tor Greece against TufkeyT'
What u these 10 nesve Q man against
osatA IN the thought that by his deuth
he WIN help enc Of thsss foreign coun-
t1ses retain . territory - big as Long
Island and prevent anothsr country
from getting iti VIII that thought con
DA4C AAka WbSkA ht8 0Axxk3 hukuN " ab'
mother or wife in Amerfcas Is there
any Inspiration In itf Does 4 rsn 81.
gladly for anything 80 foreign and So
sSfdidl
The soldier who has stood by the
charred flesh and bones OF comrude
knows there Is no spirit or consolation
In any Of these things. He knows that
men cannot fly willingly into the face
of death for any such causes
The whole thing Is impossible. To
soldier of the line It Is simply un-
thinkabie. To him all the talk abou:
making the world safe for democracy
hy fighting boundary wars all around
the globe means just nothing ut all
You might as well tell him to die for
the blue sky AS to die for boundary
lines everywhere and for democracy
In general.
I have never seen soldier or nj
army that could get the fighting spirit
In such q cause as that. Neither has
any other American soldier. An Amer
lean army that had no other inspira-
ZION would be an army without spirit.
without morale: 1t would be no army
at all. | defy any soldier to Imagine
Il fighting American army under these
conditions.
In August. 1918, 16 American avia-
tors were lined up at Claremont,
France. to go to the front. They shook
hands with everybody and said good
by" An engineer officer asked the
captain In charge of the aviation
group: why all this gloom?" The
reply was: "WeIl. those American ma
chimes have no protection: as soon as
q bullet hits that gasoline tank 1t is
certain 1t Will take fire Immediately
aud the men have no chance to get
away. "a month later the engineer
agniu met the captain and asked II
those men came back. "They never
came back was the simple answer.
They never came back
Do men do these things as they 20
to breakfast or board street carr
Do they do these things for political
theories or for general principles or
for miserable piece OF land that
some foreigner covets and some other
foreigner will not give up?
Can you expect any soldier. who has
seen men do what those 10 did. TO be
for the League Of Nationsf Can you
imagine his wishing such sacrifices to
he made on the orders Of foreign
country? Can you picture to yourself
an American army sent overseas by
the American people to enact such
tragedies? OR. II sent, can you think
il possible to inspire an army to brave
leeds on such hollow pretensesf
h< Ia.
Why the soldier ID against the League