El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-12-27

In War Time
LEAVES FROM AN
OVERSEAS NOTEBOOK
49,

I months. Today's instaluent. continuing
/ the general narrative, relates experiences
active phases OF the great battle Of Sep
It is suggested that readers clip these
/ articles each day ana paste them In scrap
! books; they viii not be reprinted and back
numbers cannot be supplied
! FRONT line units are brought here
1 at intervals for clothing issue and
a few DAYS rest and a bath. They
come in tired and rather haggard, but
it Is surprising how quickly they pull
! themselves together Tor a new turn
forward. Today Us September l
I talked with young Lieutenant I had
known at Camp Travis about his ex-
/ periences; he Is a fine clean fellow
I from Indiana. He has been through
I two big attacks and saws he expects
TO become a casualty" the third time
as he has figured out that his chances
of survival VIII then have been ex-
I hausted according to the law of aver
[ ages; as 1 babe him goodbye he said
he would not be back again This
young man was killed three days
] iater.l
A battalion of infantry about TO
/ leave for the front line after brief rest
. has dress parade and review in open
I field Strikes me as rather curious per
I Iormdnee since enemy airmen are
[ about. 1T is almost dusk. One Of the
bands has been brought up for the
. ceremony and the brigade commander
/ receives the review. The band PLAYS a
march familiar fro frequent use at
2 Camp Travis, -le uulsc las q sort of
I doieful sound, almost fuas-eal 1 saw
! these men come IN; the companies were
I scarcely Of platoon size, and the units
[ were mere skeletons Of organizations.
I with Eeutenauts commanding COM
Z pauies and sergeants and corp0rals
I commanding plauOons. The men and
! officers were exhausted, but they
I seemed restless and DESTROYS to get back
20 business again 1t does not take
] long 10 form or review a battalion
not much larger than a war strength
COMPANY am deeply impressed by
the wastage that has taken place in
these few short week. We nave re-
oeived few requirements. The troops
march off the Held and string out
along the road to the front lines as
night closes down. they, too, seem TO
1eei that this IS the last time IN.
Going 10 my hut / run across a
fresh faced boy lieutenant OF a ma
f
the bank Of the stream. he seems
anxious to talk-ab0ut everything but
war. He says he is totally relaxed
shorty a private In the signal
I corps. seems TO take a real zest in his
work Of soldering and sees the funny
side Of things, which is hidden TO most.
His relation of how the forward lines
are. strung during the night before an
attack, how the work goes on all night
i'm the dense woods and across No
I Aan's-Land and along the uptmned
roads, Is fIll of picture quality, human
grit, and a keen sense Of ourWitting
the enemy. One night he got away
ahead Of the infantry and found him
self in the enemy lines az the hour
set Tor our attack; feeling that he
was done for anyhow, he amused him
self cutting the German telephone
wires.
A captain tells about being IN a hut
during night Smelling. with his orderly
who was very quiet and afraid of
shells but a good deal more afraid Of
disobeying OF displeasing an officer.
After a particularly close hit the or
DERBY remarked. -W0uld the captain
he a bit more coy here with a fire
lit How about a slice Of bac0nf7
With very lew exceptions, I have
been unable TO observe among officers
or men any evidence whatever Of the
Z possession Of a Sense Of humOr" such
as the popular war literature forever
talks Of These people never Joke
among themselves OF take light view
= Of things. They are taking It logged
I ly and grimly but certainly not smil-
mgly, and mighty few Of them seem
TO be taking what might be called a
[ professional pleasure in their business
OF soldering / don't think there is
much danger Of the Omitted States be-
coming 4militaristien IF these men are
far samples OF our citizenship as they
appear TO be-
This Is a mirthless. iol-eless war. It
Is dull; nobody seems. TO do much
thinking about it; the only general,
commonly accepted motive is to pre-
vent German success. If there IS any
other object OF inspiration, ANYTHING
Interior, IT does not appear. The at
titude Of officers and men may be
summed up in this most natural and
elementary idea. '.Ihe Germans
thought they could run the world and
I whip the United States; wen have to
I show them they can't do either" These
{ soldiers have no notion they are fight
Z ing for France or England or for any
vague idea Of saving the world or
Z civilization OF promoting the cause Of
democracy. They are fighting for
! the United States. a war Of self de-
fence, and even any notion Of punish
ment OF revenge is scarcely percep-
tibP
Whatever the shortcomings Of these
troops from standpoint of old school
army rules, personnel generally does
wen or more than well as individuals,
in action
There is no disposition over here
among troops near the front lines. to
rhapsOdize OF seutimentalize. An of
that seems TO be left TO the rear areas,
and to the journalists who write for
popular consumption in the newspa-
pers and periodicals. and war fiction.
In fact, It is all Just a Job to be done
and over with. Nothing goes on OF
is done to feed the spirit or the mind,
and the mental, physical, and spiritual
or moral strain Is umTelieved by the
least glimmer of exaltatiOn OF ideal
ism. What the nervous system of men
can undergo and retain sanity and
some bodily resiliencv is q source Of
perpetual wonder. A large proportion
of officers are not leaders in any true
sense of the word, and the definite
contribution of the rank and file in
I driving through the hard tasks against
Z terrific odds does not seem TO be SUI